Advanced Commando
by BraviaryScout
Summary: Ash Ketchum knows as an elite soldier that certain events that happen throughout his line of work can be life-altering. What he is unaware of is that it would come in the form of a billionaire's daughter he rescued. The friendship with her eventually becomes someone he won't be able to live without. Nothing will break their bond. Not even her father. AU, Advanceshipping.
1. Pilot

**Hello and welcome to my newest project into the Pokemon archive. This is actually an idea that I had done back when I was actively watching the anime, which stopped around whenever the tenth movie was released. I've done a few days recently of tweaking, especially when Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were released, thus reviving this idea.  
**

 **This is an AU fic. Please refrain from telling me that this isn't Pokemon or whatever. I'm well aware of that. Pokemon will also be much less significant and their role in this AU will be just like wildlife in our world.** **There will be military terminology throughout this fic ever since Ash will be a soldier.**

 **Lastly, Pokemon does not belong to me. I had forgotten to put a disclaimer on the original first chapter and I don't want to get in any trouble.**

* * *

It was another warm humid summer night at the foot of Mt. Silver.

The tallest mountain in the Kanto-Johto Confederation towered at the border of the two joining regions rising up nearly twenty thousand feet. The peak could be seen for hundreds of miles, as no range or object blocked the majestic mountain from viewing.

During the wintertime, small towns around the east and west parts experienced a flare of popularity as many come to ski on the slopes with the difficulty increasing the higher up. Year-round, eager climbers are also flocking to the settlements with aspirations to scale the mighty peak and savor the view that only a few experienced.

Through a set of electronic optics, a man gazed at the summit, where it was snowy white at the very top and its highest point obscured by a few surrounding clouds. He was one who had successfully scaled the peak and enjoyed the magnificent panorama, being able to see nearly as far as the eye could.

Averting his gaze from the top, his optics functioned as a Heads Up Display or HUD. Resembling a one-lense sunglasses visor, this piece of equipment relayed information between him and his friends.

Adorning the rest of his body was a lightweight, but dense ballistic harness. The armor covered the majority of him, although his limbs and joints were instead clothed in sleek gray linings. His muscles were hard at work as he pressed himself against the cliff face.

The armor's left breastplate read: KETCHUM A. On the right breastplate was the bar of a Lieutenant along with a dark gray symbol of a Houndoom's head surrounded by the text "In defense of the helpless".

Ash Ketchum was a Lieutenant in the KJ Federation, having served in his native land for four years in the main armed forces. A particular commander in the military had found his potential to be useful elsewhere and he was eventually accepted into the Commandos, the elite Special Forces unit of the Federation. The Houndoom on his shoulder was the symbol of their packlike mentality and Commandos were highly feared and respected by both their allies and foes alike.

Lieutenant Ketchum led a force of Commandos out to Mt. Silver in an operation that had come from the top. He and his team were sitting in the briefing room in Vermillion twelve hours earlier before being deployed hundreds of miles away from the nearest settlement.

"Ketchum. Flashing you a marker."

A small highlighted point of interest caught his attention on the visor and he peered over. Next to him was a man of similar build except he had a couple of inches over his lieutenant. He had the ranking of a Sergeant with the name OAK G. over his breastplate.

Gary Oak was his second in command and a close friend of Ash's. The two had known one another ever since they had opposed one another in a middle school fight and made amends, however Gary and Ash had a teasing, but playful friendship. Ever since then, they had stuck together though middle, high school, a year of college before both had decided to enlist. However when it came to the military duty and transfers to the Commandos, all the childlike behavior was cast aside for the more serious outlook.

Gary had highlighted a small building that had a gate over a dirt road. Behind it was a larger and taller tower that preceded a metal fence. Movement was also seen, a trio of black clothed guards were idly moving about at the gate's entrance. One of them leaned against the small office, taking a drag from a lit cigarette.

The distance to that from their vantage point on the cliffs was at least a half mile so a simple guard post proved that their target was somewhere in the dense forest below. So far, nothing stood out.

"Guard shifts are erratic. They switched out within ninety minutes last time and that was nearly two and a half hours ago."

"Okay," He looked down at the place, "We strike just after the next guard shift. Let's head back over and brief everyone else."

Ash and Gary had their entire team encamped in a small cave just behind the face of the narrow cliffs they were on. Before them lay the secret compound of the notorious criminal named Hunter J.

J had been on the Federation's watch list for some time, although she was mostly convicted of laundering illegally earned money for small time criminal groups.

She had emerged as a notorious target for being a freelancer for hire on anything illegal or dirty, often supplying safe passage to outlaws and various mobs that plagued the underworld with their activities. Several of these notorious organizations had then struck out at Federation landmarks. These attacks at public events had claimed the lives of many civilians.

The military and special police had tried three times to capture J during her time in Federation territory; however she had either escaped or evaded every attempt.

A breakthrough finally occurred in the form of an undercover informant in the mercenary gang, who had fed them discreet pieces of intelligence and finally pinpointed the criminal's hideout at the foot of Mt. Silver in a rather dense section of the forest.

Ash and Gary eased over the narrow cliff edge; with about an inch of rock separating them and the side. They pressed their backs against the face, moving slowly and deliberately, well aware that a misstep could mean slipping and falling to their doom. The drop below had to be at least a hundred and twenty feet.

Five minutes later, they hauled themselves up on more solid ground and made their way over to the mouth of a small hollowed out cave.

Three more figures were at the bottom of the bowl foundation. Upon hearing their approach, they all halted whatever they were doing, giving Ash and Gary their undivided attention.

"Guard switches are at random to prevent prying eyes from striking at a switch."

"I'll contact Voltage." The smallest figure said, removing a small datapad and beginning to type in commands.

A minute later he had secured a connection with the leader of the Commandos. Lieutenant Commander Surge had been one himself for five years before he had been promoted to become their commanding officer. Standing seven feet tall, he had the build of a heavily muscled basketball player, spiky blond hair and piercing blue eyes. During his tenure as a CO, he was shown to have a very strict demeanor, giving him his nickname Surge for his rather shocking behavior when training recruits. He took a liking to people who were quite the character.

"Identity; Cobalt Lead." Ash said into the pad's microphone, "Password Alpha Arcanine."

The device accepted the password and the connecting screen were replaced by a feed of Surge in the command center. This was the Commandos' primary means of communicating with the unit's operations center in central Kanto's Vermillion City. As Ash and his team were well familiar with, intelligence could be worthless in a day, hour or even minute.

"Hello Voltage." Ash curtly greeted. It was better to be formal with a CO than casual. Even if the commander had been a friend of his for several years.

"Good to hear from you Cobalt Lead." Voltage smiled slightly. Beside him was a steaming cup of coffee to help keep him awake during the late hours and listening in to operations. "The intel satellite we've leased will need another ten minutes to reposition and allow new feed. I'll send up advised updates when we got them, although I'm not sure what we'll end up getting."

"That won't be necessary," Ash replied, "Oak and I did some scouting and surveying of the general area and I believe we've found the entrance to J's compound. Our contact's laid enough breadcrumbs that we'll be able to trace the compound's exact location and perhaps J's ship. Only X-factor here is that the perimeter has a motion sensing fence and the guard post at the entry has shift times of varying intervals."

"Goddamn," He cursed under his breath before recomposing. "You got a plan?"

"Our contact inside just provided us with insight that one of their trucks is inbound in T-minus twenty with some cargo that is apparently important to her. We were thinking of taking the guard post and then springing a trap there for the vehicle to get safe passage."

"Remember if you see her ship located in her compound, disabling it is also a key priority. Repairs can be costly to the business and she'll have a hell of a time of repairing it without attracting intelligence agencies' prying eyes."

"Understood."

"Remember, that you are only authorized to engage J if it is out of self defense. The Federation wants her alive. That's all I got for you gentlemen. Anything else you need to share?"

"Oak and I already formulated a plan," Ash confirmed, "So unless you want to hear the details, go ahead and sign out. We'll be keeping tabs on our IFF recorders which can be decrypted during our debriefing. Cobalt going dark."

"Roger that. Good luck gentlemen." The line clicked dead. Normally the command center would keep them company with additional intelligence, but the nature of the operation was only known to probably a half dozen people in the Federation's intelligence agency and military, so therefore it was going to minimize getting compromised. Of course, if updated information was essential, Surge would break protocol to tell them so.

Ash stood up, "Truck's arrival is in twenty minutes. Stick with the plan."

It took about two of those minutes for the team to quickly pack up their gear and prepare themselves.

The Commandos standard weapon was a SG 516, a carbine assault rifle with modular components, being able to shoot through most standard body armor with a decent rate of fire. Four of them carried such rifles, except for Brock Harrison, the team's sharpshooter who instead had a powerful Ballista sniper rifle. All five of them carried P226 pistols, a favorite of the Commandos.

"Oak, you and Harrison are taking the high ridgeline. You should have a good vantage point over the entire area. Provide overwatch on the outer perimeter areas."

"On it." The tall sniper tapped Oak on the shoulder, causing the two of them to depart.

Ash turned to his other two, "You two with me. Set up rappels. We will approach the post from the east."

The other two operators, Paul Shinji and Trip Urban nodded and approached the cliff's edge, beginning to unreel their lines and securing metal carabineers to their armored harnesses. Shinji was a hardened veteran and the only one not a member of the Federation military; instead a liaison from the Sinnoh Special Forces that had been training with the Commandos over the course of two months for this specific mission. Ash had been told that Shinji was one of the best and had a talent for both hand-to-hand and knife combat; something both men were particularly proficient in. While he was a bit gruff and cold, he always kept an eye on his teammates.

J had also been on Sinnoh's watch list as she had been responsible for supplying black market products to clients who plagued the nation for some time. He was here on Sinnoh's behalf to end the threat once and for all.

Initially he and Ash did not get along, but over time they did find at least some chemistry in working together. They weren't going to be best friends, but all the training and preparation for this op had the two men having a healthy mutual respect for one another. A man of few words and took care of business.

Trip Urban was a bit shorter than most Commandos, just shy of six feet tall. He had immigrated from Unova some time back. Also a seasoned soldier, but he had only been with the Commandos for less than a year. The fact that he was on an ultra-clandestine operation already meant that the kid had some talent. So far with exercises, he had displayed an uncanny sense of sharpness and did not display that typical gung-ho character that most rookies portrayed.

With their lines secure, the three men quietly descended down the cliff face, watching over the compound.

The most interesting thing happened. Just behind the guard gate, the forest seemed to vanish as if it was a mirage and as they continued to lower themselves to the bottom. Instead of more foliage in the distance, they saw the dark oblique shapes of machinery.

"Is that?" Trip whispered.

"Yeah," Paul finished, "A Kecleon canopy."

The canopy kept things hidden, such as places that didn't want to be found. J's ship had stealth technology, being able to nullify its signature to most radar systems. Hiding in the canopy allowed it to remain safely tucked away from both satellite and radar while resupplying for its next illegal activities. Once it was ready to leave, it would activate its camouflage and then opening the canopy, of course when the satellites were coincidentally not overlooking that particular area.

As much as he wanted to relay the new intelligence that they had recently deduced, they had a mission to carry out and gone dark. The truck was approaching, so the timing and training they had done on the base was about to finally pay off.

Reaching the ground, the three quickly unstrapped themselves from the ropes and quietly moved towards their target, weapons in hand.

* * *

 **So here's the pilot chapter! I know much of it doesn't really make sense right now, but I promise all of it will come together.**

 **This will be mainly Advanceshipping, because I find that both Ash and May fit one another the best. Maybe it's because I watched the Advanced Generation when I first got interested in Pokemon, so perhaps I'm a bit biased.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	2. Chapter 2

"I count three sentries." Ash whispered. Next to him, Paul and Trip were hidden behind a hill about a hundred feet to the right of the post.

"Ash, make that four." Brock said through his earpiece, "One in the sniper tower."

The thin outlook that was just behind the main gate was almost invisible from the top treeline until you either had a view from higher above or got to ground level. "Good eye. Keep me posted on his status."

Up on the ridge, Brock was making seemingly small, but precise adjustments to the powerful scope that sat atop the long-barreled sniper rifle. It was a difficult task in both physical and mental aspects. At such a lengthy distance to the hostiles, even a tiny muscle shift was enough to throw off the aim. Gary began to feed him information that sounded like jargon, but Brock easily translated it to line up his shot to the rugged-looking man wielding a scoped sniper rifle of his own inside the taller tower nearly an eighth of a mile away. He was idly standing around, but still scanning the treetops and ground for enemies.

"We're in position." Gary reported. "Ready to take the shot."

"Take him."

Brock steadied his aim on the target, held his breath for a few moments before squeezing the trigger; the Ballista jerked back from the recoil, but the motion was countered by his shoulder and familiarity with the weapon's kick. The gunshot's normal loud cracking sound was instead a muted cough emanated from the cylindrical suppressor that was fitted over the barrel. Similarly, all the Commandos had equipped the silencing tool onto their weapons to maintain their element of surprise.

The perfectly aimed sniper bullet drilled straight through center mass on the target, dropping him like a sack.

None of J's sentries paused in their work.

"Splash one."

Ash saw the armed guard closest to him begin to finish a lit cigarette that was now starting to be a stump. He began to walk in their direction.

"Keep me covered." He told the other two and moved from his hiding position without waiting for a reply.

Like a Persian stealthily creeping onto an unsuspecting Pidgey, Ash moved slowly and deliberately to the left, where the forest would be a little more dense. The guard was in the midst of finishing his smoke just ten feet in front. The other two were inside the small building on the left idly walking around to wear off their boredom. With the sniper dead, nobody was watching.

He was an easy relaxed target, taking one last drag and finding himself entranced by the stream of thin smoke that blew out of his lips.

The guard put the flame out and tossed the butt away.

With only a whisper, Ash lunged forward. He put an iron hand over his victim's mouth and used his other one on the back of the head, wrenching his victim's spine with a popping sound.

"Splash two."

Paul and Trip moved out, now exposing themselves over open ground and always aiming in front wherever they looked. The fence area had no cameras, so they could freely move about.

The final two guards were more heavily armed with FAL battle rifles and had returned inside the post. One of them detected movement and looked up.

Both Paul and Trip let out a single shot, each one dropping them.

"Splash three."

"Move." Ash broke cover and moved to the station, helping Trip dispose of the dead in a locker. Inside was a coffee machine atop a desk with some files and a control panel for the gate. On the back wall was an arms locker with another rifle and a pair of pistols. Boxes of ammunition for both weapons were at the back.

Ash pointed at the uniforms, "We might have to do a walk about when the van rolls up." He grabbed one of the corpses and began to remove the hoodie he wore, "Put the jacket over the armor."

"I have visual on the van." Gary reported. "It's two mikes out."

"Copy." He pulled the solid black hoodie over his uniform before looking over at Trip doing the same before grinning over at him, "Let's get in character."

Paul took the controls for the gate as Ash and Trip stepped out to greet the approaching vehicle. He had pulled the jacket a little higher up and tucked it inside since a bullet hole was quite visible close to the neck.

A few moments later, they saw headlights illuminating the unpaved road as a large silver six wheeled van turned onto the road and came to a stop just in front of the closed entrance.

Ash wasn't sure how they conversed, so he was about to opt for a simple greeting when the driver rolled down his window, "Hey."

"Hi. State your business?"

"We got our next financial shipment." The driver jerked his thumb towards the back, "Go ahead, it's all there for you guys."

Ash nodded towards Trip, who unlatched the door. "Oh and," He turned back towards the driver, "Oh and Leo back there needs to use the can really bad."

"Go."

One of the rear doors opened and a man scurried out from the back, brushing aside Trip and practically sprinting towards the station.

"Thanks," He turned to see Ash leveling his rifle straight at his head, "Don't move."

To his right, Trip opened the shotgun door before smashing the stock of his weapon on the unsuspecting henchman, breaking his nose and knocking him out cold.

"Don't make any noise either," Trip slid the body to the back before sidling into the shotgun seat and clamping a hand over his mouth, "Just do as we say and you'll be able to walk. Understand?"

The man nodded so Trip pulled his hand away again. "Check in with the guard post and then again with command. Just like in protocol."

"Everything checks out," Ash gave thumbs up towards Paul, who hit the button for the gate to open.

"Now check in with command and state that the guard post has just let you in. Once they've confirmed it, tell them that one of those guards is feeling ill."

"Okay." The driver calmly keyed his radio.

"What is it?" A gruff voice asked from the other end.

"We just got checked in. Proceeding to the loading area."

"We'll be waiting."

"One of the guards at the post just got sick and threw up," He licked his lips after adding the detail, hoping both his captors and superior were buying it.

"Have them visit the sick bay when their shift ends in an hour."

"Good." Ash waved over to Paul, who moved out from the post and climbed into the back of the van. He had let the other man with the urge to empty his bladder sidle into the restroom and begin to relieve himself. When he came out, the Sinnoh spec ops was there to take him out with a couple of well-placed blows to the face.

He then smashed the butt of his gun into the driver's head before dragging him to the back.

Climbing into the driver's seat, he heard Gary's voice once again, "As soon as you drive through that gate, Brock and I are going to lose a majority of sighting from our position. You may not have sniper support, but we'll do our best."

"Got it. Thanks."

As they drove down the road, more of the compound that was previously undetectable to the naked eye were starting to show themselves. A pair of large barracks was opposite the enormous clamps that held J's massive ship in the dock underneath the canopy, to their right was a large warehouse that had at least a dozen more identical silver vans in front to act as a loading front. A couple of them had mounted machine guns atop their roofs.

"Ash, we got a shipment of gold bars back here, serial numbers show they were stolen in Unova two years back by a group of bank heist gangs."

"Who knows what else they have that we've been looking for."

They headed towards an empty parking spot next to two of the vans and discreetly rolled the bodies underneath. Paul went to the front and popped the hood to snip the wires from the main battery to keep the vehicle from moving.

The three of them disembarked and weaved through the parked cars to the warehouse's entrance. Part of the forest had been cleared to establish a perimeter around the rear of the compound, although Paul had discovered that there was a small ditch that carried waste sludge from the airship towards the sewers. It was low enough to provide cover for their approach should there be cameras mounted on any of the buildings. They hunkered down and it took several minutes of slowly advancing to reach it.

The giant airship had four large turbine engines that acted like covered rotors and was integrated into two delta wings that ran alongside each side of the craft. At the front was a large cockpit glass that faced outward with a pair of long barrels beside it. Further up close to the fuselage were missile batteries, the boxlike weapons being able to carry eight Swarm rockets that could be locked on and cluster fired onto a target to overwhelm it.

Hunter J had been spotted everywhere, from Sinnoh in one day and then the next, she could be found in Unova, nearly two thousand miles away. This was her primary mode of transportation and her way of being able to move about undetected.

Keeping the ship on the ground was their priority as well. It was probable that J could get the vessel spooled up and airborne rather quickly and they would have a hell of a time digging her back up if she disappeared. Finding out how close your enemy was to catching you made a bit more paranoid for a lot longer.

Moving to the closest engine, Ash pulled out a demolition charge, sticking it to the inside of the metal wall by a magnet on the other side. Down at the far end of the back engine, Paul and Trip were attaching one as well. Sticking it to a crucial part of the vehicle's function, specifically its engine was the best way to disable it. The charge was the size of his fist and packed enough explosive power to make sure the engines had to be completely replaced.

"Colbalt Two, the airship is being hidden by a Kecleon canopy. It is facing in your direction. Maybe you can give us sniper support."

"We'll make adjustments," Gary replied, "How do you want to play it?"

"I'm transferring you the detonation codes, when I say: game over. You hit that signal. We're maintaining our cover for as long as possible and if it gets blown, that might buy us some time."

"Roger that Cobalt Lead."

They found a side entrance that led into the main deck of the ship and eased their way inside. Once they moved throughout the vessel, their cover would be blown and they'd be quickly outnumbered.

However Ash expected that they would eventually be found and the deeper they penetrated into the security of this place, the more chaotic it would be to re-secure while fending them off. Besides, a Federation Commando doesn't stop until he completes his mission.

"Located security." Paul stated, gesturing down the opposite end Trip and Ash were about to head.

"Take point."

He led the way, leaning out to aim and covering their advance from the vector before proceeding. As he continued to go, one of the guards just outside the security station had noticed them. Paul quickly aimed and put a burst through his head. He hadn't even had time to reach for the gun holstered on his hip.

"Stack up," Ash moved behind Trip as Paul took the door's other side. Once they were in position, his hand rested on his left shoulder and he tapped it twice.

"Go!" As soon as the rookie kicked open the door stepping aside, Cobalt Lead was the first inside and with his weapon raised, he had already eliminated two of the seven personnel inside. They were dazed and only one of them was beginning to reach for their weapon. He was the first one killed.

Moving to the left opposite Ash, Paul eliminated three more and Trip took care of the final three. As soon as the last one was killed, an alarm klaxon began to wail. None of them had time to utter the word "clear" yet.

"Goddamn it." Paul snarled, glaring at the security systems. They were a special kind that registered tagged personnel only inside. If someone didn't have the clearance or none were inside at any given time, an alarm would be triggered.

"Well they know we're here now."

The three of them rushed out into the bisecting hallways just as two groups of men came from either side. They all carried rifles and opened fire with a volley of shots upon seeing the three of them.

Immediately Ash and Paul both took a side, firing back at the hostiles. Trip was inside the main security room, disabling as many systems as possible. Eventually the wailing alarm had been silenced.

Shinji finally managed to drop a few of his, allowing him to move up and Ash to shuffle over. Trip now fired from the back of the room, having a narrow window in which he threaded his bullets into one hostile also trying to hit him.

"Cobalt Lead, the guard post and the compound is lighting up!"

"Cobalt Two," Ash had to shout over the staccato of gunfire through the halls, "Our cover is blown; we're engaging and going to push to the ship's bridge!"

"Do we blow the charges?"

"Negative! Only when I say the word!"

Several guards had appeared through the doors

Trip fired a long burst of automatic fire to their left, staying at his position once he had dispatched his enemies. Several of them fired back, but the young Unovan had ducked back into his cover, only to reemerge and gun down the hapless foes.

Ash leaned over through the narrow threshold and assisted Paul in taking out the final two enemies.

"Clear."

"J's room?"

Trip pointed down one of the corridors, "Down the hallway over there. Control center is a large det of double doors."

"Alright, stay frosty." Ash took a brief glance around, "Don't know what J's got waiting for us."

With Trip on point and Paul covering the six, the trio quickly found the entrance to the airship's bridge. It was a large set of two metal sliding doors with a green light at the top. Upon sensing their presence, they slid open.

Right into an ambush.

About a half dozen men with automatic FAL rifles were on the other side and the three men had a split second to register the threat and dive for cover before the ten foot wide span was suddenly filled with fast moving bullets.

Ash forced himself to breathe slower and untie the knot that had suddenly formed in his stomach. The three of them were leaning against the wall just at the edge, silently thankful that the steel wall was dense enough to stop bullets from penetrating and hitting their backs on the other side.

"Shit." Paul looked as if he was about to take a peek out to see their hostiles and their positions, but the gunfire coming from up top had not diminished and the guys were adamant on keeping them pinned.

"They'll have plenty of rounds," Ash said, "Keeping us pinned down to either cut us off or until J escapes."

"What do we do now?"

"We're going to lay down a smokescreen on both ourselves and the general enemy direction. We get the drop on them. It's game over."

* * *

 **The mission continues!**

 **Another thing I am going to add is that I am a very busy person. I have maybe two days a week to write. Meaning that updates will be sporadic. It will be tough to keep it up on a regular interval, but I'll do my best and I don't want to sacrifice quality for quantity.**

 **A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite and/or followed so far, you give my writing purpose.**


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the word was heard, Gary did a lightning check of all charge signals on his HUD before sending the detonation signal.

The status in the top left corner of the visor flickered to say BOOM! Out at the airship's dock, two columns of fire shot into the sky, shearing straight through the metal and setting the side of the vessel ablaze. The flammable Kecleon canopy used to shield her entire compound easily burned up, flames lighting up the sky as if it were a night sun.

As if on que, J's docked airship seemingly materialized from behind its cloak, revealing its sleek gray front and a large cockpit window. Behind that glass were a half dozen figures firing at the bridge's entrance.

* * *

Commandos didn't call Brock Harrison nicknames like Big Brother and Dr. Clutch for no reason. At thirty years of age, he had maintained years of experience with both the standard army and the Commandos, building up invaluable experience. He stood six feet and nine inches, towering nearly a full head above the average Commando. Forged for nine years of service as a sniper, his instincts and gut often told him of danger and reading the signs.

The danger that Ash, Paul and Trip were facing right now was definitely hampering their assassination of J.

His sniper, an FN Ballista bolt-action marksman rifle sat on a metal bipod and the tip of the barrel jutted out from over the cliff. To his right, Gary Oak had a pair of optics to his visor to act as a spotter. He fed back reliable information, but it was all on Harrison's shoulders to take a crucial shot to turn the tide of the firefight.

Staring through the reticule at the end of the scope made the crosshairs burned into his eye and he adjusted his aim slightly to the left, almost as if the rifle was an extension of his body.

Someone's hand darted out of the side of the door, releasing a long cylindrical canister that began to blanket the open doorway with thick white smoke. The sheet of cover did little to stop the hostiles from lowering their fire.

It looked like the three inside the ship were dead sooner or later unless Brock lent them some brass.

J's men had taken ample cover to shield themselves from Ash's side, although the sniper on the ridge had a clean view of every single one of them.

One time his leader had asked him to explain the concept of his marksmanship and he typically responded, "That moment when you have everything lined up perfectly. Everyone does their share of the job just for this moment. Then the shit hits the fan and everything goes hell-bent anyway."

Of course, people would scoff at the response, but it was true for those who fought alongside him knew exactly what he was talking about.

The suppressor coughed once he had centered his aim on the second enemy to the left. A Hammer Arm of a pin impacted the primer, sending a powerful 338 Magnum round traveling right to the designated target, just below the neckline of the henchman before drilling him straight through.

A split second later, everyone else had turned to see what had happened to their friend. Through the smoke at the other end, Ash Paul and Trip finally appeared, firing at the exposed enemies to their left.

* * *

Back inside the control room, Ash spotted a woman with a similar visor to their own with silvery hair. A dark blue jacket resembling a trench coat. She had a small handgun in her right hand and aimed it in their direction.

"Hunter J! Federation Commandos!" He raised his rifle, "Drop the weapon!"

Her response was to fire the weapon, causing all three of them to slide into cover at varying sides and return fire in the direction, hoping that she would duck and allow them to move up.

Then, as if some sort of intervention, there was a quiet ping as another bullet passed through the thick panel of the cockpit glass. J jerked forward as the sniper round ripped its way through her shoulder, spraying blood all over the floor.

Ash signaled Trip to clear the remainder of the room as he and Paul ran up the stairs. Her grip had slacked on the pistol, which was nudged away by his foot.

J had miraculously managed to sit up, leaning against the blood splattered wall and looked up at the two with glossy eyes. Her gaze centered on Paul, "You."

"Pathetic." He spat.

She coughed hard, spitting up what seemed to be mouthfuls of blood, "Pay for this…"

Then J went limp.

"All clear." Trip waved out to the sniper team on the ridge before approaching the two of them, "Shit."

Ketchum activated his HUD and performed a facial scan of J before finally getting a match, "It's her. Target confirmed dead."

Ash looked over at Paul, who was still glaring at the deceased form of the female terrorist that had contributed to the violence of his homeland, "You okay man?"

"Yeah," He still didn't take his eyes off her, "Let's just get to the exfil point."

* * *

Paul was flipping through a magazine in the Commando's lounge in Vermillion City after Cobalt had been debriefed about the situation eight hours later. Eventually Federation soldiers would surround and root out survivors before taking inventory of all the contraband and equipment that had survived. The airship would be searched, salvaged and then its remains would act as target practice for the air force in a few months.

With the purpose of him being in the Federation now fulfilled, he had been approved of a renewal of his visa and had been invited for an extended stay for additional training and joint exercises.

He looked up upon hearing the door open. Ash Ketchum stepped through, now instead dressed in a workout shirt and basketball shorts. Now off duty, he was able to wear more casual clothing.

"I heard that the Federation granted you an extension on your stay here as well as an offer from Surge to integrate you into the Commandos."

Paul nodded.

"I also heard you turned both of them down."

"Yeah," He threw the magazine down, "I did."

"Sure you don't want to stay with the Commandos? Most feared warriors on the planet?"

"I'm grateful for what you and the Commandos have done for me, but it's time to go back home."

Ash nodded, "Well you're one of a kind. You're welcome back with us anytime."

"It was an honor to fight by your side Ketchum," Paul extended a hand out and his lips curled upwards in a small smile, "Perhaps when the conflict in my home has ended; you can come to visit me in my country. We can talk and reminisce on old times."

He smiled and shook his hand, "I'd like that."

* * *

Later that night, Ash stepped off a small jet plane in Viridian's airport and rented a car, driving thirty minutes south, before reaching a smaller town in the metropolis' shadow and taking a couple of exits before parking at a house that was clearly aging, but well cared for.

A few people were hanging out in this part of Pallet and he ignored them as he removed a key from his pocket and unlocking the door before stepping inside.

This was Ash's childhood home; he had grown up in a tough Pallet neighborhood where violence, drugs and gang fighting was quite common. Next door was where his best friend Gary had used to live until he moved away to live with his grandfather when his mother died in a shooting when he was eight.

His father was a Commando and was killed in action when he was seven; both he and his own father were Commandos.

Making matters worse, Ash's mother, Delia had refused to leave the house despite all the crime occurring down the street. During the day, it was fairly safe to venture out, but at night it was dangerous enough that even the police were rarely seen.

"Mom?" Ash called out.

"Kitchen sweetie." A sweet but slightly raspy voice came from the other room.

Delia Ketchum's frail form was leaning over the kitchen counter. Even before Ash had entered the room, he could smell a familiar scent of her world-famous triple chocolate chip cookies.

"You sure know how to determine my arrival." He gave her a smile as he took a bite into one of the cookies. It was perfectly cooked, chewy with the chocolate all melted and gooey. Flawless every time. She had sent a whole batch to him while he was away and his squad had gone through them so fast that he had only gotten two. They were delicious enough to make him keep any further packages of them locked inside a drawer in his quarters.

"You even told me when you'd get here."

No matter how many times he had tried to get her to leave, Delia refused to part ways with their old house. The neighbors and strangers alike had kept their distance, ever since word had broken out that her son was now a Commando, the last person anyone wanted to piss off. It definitely was odd that the sweet sick woman was still living in a neighborhood full of crime, however she would only move out of the house when her life did.

Two years ago, Delia was diagnosed with a rare form of amyloidosis, the body's buildup of unprocessed proteins in her kidneys that was almost always deemed terminal. The doctors had recommended a chemotherapy treatment to help alleviate it; however the expense was too much. Ash was off in the military, putting all the spare salary he earned towards getting the treatment, however it still wasn't enough. Even his transfer into the Commandos hardly made a difference in the high medical bill that would follow. More unsettling news was that the disease was making her weaker.

"How are you feeling mom?" Ash's tone carried hints of concern, as it was evident what his true question was.

Delia looked down at herself, over time she had lost weight and her appearance had quickly changed to someone a full decade older. The chemotherapy treatment wasn't working as effectively as planned and it was taking a hard toll on both her physical and mental self.

"I spoke with the doctors a couple days ago. It's bad news. My body's shutting down," She sighed, "I have a month…maybe two."

Ash went pale, but quickly regained his composure, "Okay mom, so what's the plan? We can get you more powerful drugs."

"That's not it,"

"What do you mean that's not it? You gotta fight this thing!"

"Ash sweetie," She pleaded, "Whatever it is, it won't work!"

"Is it a money problem?" He asked, "I can get a loan and use my own salary."

Her hands had the appearance of slightly gnarled roots, but they were silky soft when they made contact with his fingers, "Ash, I'm not going to be cooped up in some hospital and ingesting poison for the rest of my life, knowing that I am too far gone to be saved. Besides, you have a whole future ahead of you. You're not even thirty yet! The money that you have needs to go to a better use elsewhere. For a house, for a family and for your future."

"Can't believe you're saying this."

"I've lived my life to my fullest and I have no regrets. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to both me and your father," Ash visibly stiffened at the mention of him, "It's just that moment where Arceus is ready to take me." She held his hands in hers, "Everything will be okay. When I do go, don't worry, this won't be the last time we see each other."

The hardened Commando nodded at her words, remaining silent and enjoying the peace the two of them had together, "You're not one to take orders are you?"

"And you are?" She playfully teased. Just as he was about to make a smart mouthed reply, his phone began to ring. Looking at the ID, he groaned.

"No groaning in the house," Delia scolded, causing him to laugh it off.

"Work always finds me. Just like trouble," He answered the phone, "Ketchum."

"Lieutenant," It was Surge, "I need you back on base ASAP."

"ASAP?" Ash looked at his mother, "Sir, my mother is terribly ill and could pass at any time. Are you sure you need me?"

"Yes. They requested you specifically."

"Okay, I'd like some time to spend with my mother though. Give me two days and I'll be on the first flight to Vermillion on the third."

"Listen Ketchum," Surge's voice softened, "I understand you're going through a tough time at the moment. I get it. However, this needs a clear head and an even tempered approach. No mistakes. If you need to take additional time off from two days, I can give you a maximum of a week, but this is a major thing for the Federation and you're going to be a big part of it."

"Okay," Ash agreed, only after seeing Delia nod towards him. "What do you have for me?"

* * *

 **So with a mission success and another one looming around the corner, Ash is now facing the fact that his mother may not have very much longer to live. I was hoping to capture part of his childhood in this chapter and show that his mother is a massive influence on his character. I had an uncle that died from the same disease that she has contracted here.**

 **Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Ladies and gents, we are beginning our final descent into Mauville International Airport. Please make sure all electronic devices are powered off and tray tables are back into their upright position. We thank you for flying with Patriot Airways, the official Airline of the Kanto-Johto Federation."

Ash felt the plane begin a slow but gradual descent as he looked outside.

It was hard to believe that the ground beneath him was a land where he had never been before. His previous tours as a Commando included Johto, Kalos and Unova just to name a few. Now he could add Hoenn to his list.

Officially the Republic of Hoenn, this island country was home to more than ten million people, covering over thirteen thousand square miles. It was a bit of an isolated place, as it was about two thousand miles south of Sinnoh and nearly two and a half times that distance from the Federation.

Until recently, Hoenn had kept in touch with the other nations around, having somewhat abundant trading relations and rarely joining in military exercises. This reclusive nature put them at quite a disadvantage, should it ever go to war.

However, Hoenn has remained quite an easygoing and peaceful nation, having one of the best life expectancies in the world. The small island had quite a diverse amount of geography, having a large volcano dominate the north with a desert to the east and super dense forests in the west and northeast.

Culturally, the island was quite on top of trends, thanks to its multiple cities that incited a place to getaway towards a utopia. It wasn't uncommon for business tycoons to have a summer house or retreat at one of Hoenn's coastal cities.

Finally the plane, a widebody Airbus A330 passed over the concrete runway before gently planting its gears down. Onboard, everyone felt a slight jolt before the spoilers on the wings kicked up and the engine's reverse thrusters were applied to decelerate out of landing speed.

Scurrying past another line of jumbo jets, it wasn't long before he scooped up his backpack from underneath the seat in front and he headed through the jetway.

"Welcome to Mauville International Airport. The current time is four-fifteen in the afternoon. We hope you enjoy your stay on our island of Hoenn."

Looking at his watch, Ash had an hour and forty five minutes to make his connecting flight. That was plenty of time to get through customs and unwind.

When he headed to the immigration area, he handed over his passport and curtly answered the questions that were sent his way. Surge had informed the Mauville Airport of his arrival and they had granted him pre-boarding clearance due to the fact he was here strictly on the Federation's and Hoenn's governmental business. Therefore, he had already been cleared to enter the country before the flight had even left Celadon's international airport. All they had to do was to verify his identity and arrival.

* * *

For the second time that day, Ash let out a grunt as he finally stood up from his seat and stretched his muscles. After sitting for several hours on the transoceanic flight and the shorter flight to Petalburg, he could finally try and get over the jetlag that was plaguing his eyes. Checking his watch, the current time was only seven in the afternoon. Back in the Federation, it was three in the morning.

His schedule was already beginning before he could even get a chance to locate his set apartment on the base. Thankfully, Petalburg International Airport shared the grounds with Wagner Military base, where he was going to be staying at.

Surge had briefed him before he had left, saying that Hoenn's officers and even their premier had requested his presence at Lynch to assist in reworking their integrity.

In the recent months, a crime syndicate had suddenly emerged out of nowhere and had gripped parts of Hoenn with fear. They were involved with everything, from smuggling to outright violence against the Republic's officials. Threats towards the nation's leaders were becoming more frequent.

The premier of Hoenn knew that if he wanted to seek a reelection, he would have to do something about this lingering syndicate.

Efforts by the Hoenn military were surprisingly unsuccessful; the group was well armed and fought like professionals. In the year alone, more than a dozen servicemen were killed. It didn't help that their influence was rumored to have been seeping into the political part.

Hoenn had reached out to the Federation for help in seeking military advice. At the same time, it served as a hopeful sign that the two governing bodies would begin to have friendly ties with one another. Surge himself was expectant of a software upgrade to their mission systems from a Hoenn based software company in the midst of the cooperation. The Federation agreed and sent a Commando, which Hoenn was surprised to hear. They had instead asked for advisors, but instead gotten a better package.

* * *

Petalburg was overall a very nice city. With a population just under two million on the west coast, it was one of Hoenn's leading cities in arts, finance, culture and entertainment, not to mention the second-most popular tourist city after Lilycove.

Wagner Field was located on the western area of the city, where it had a large training compound, barracks and a port for the Navy. Ash's rented house was along the shoreline, where some of the higher ranking officers maintained comfortable homes.

Going straight to business, Ash was ushered into a large conference room where dim lighting had barely outlined five figures sitting at the other end. At the wall behind them was a large map of the Hoenn island.

"Lieutenant Ketchum." The one in the middle spoke.

As far as he was concerned, while he still fell under the code of conduct and regulation by the Feds, he was now a member of the Hoenn military.

Snapping a salute he reported himself, "Lieutenant Ash S. Ketchum at your service."

"At ease." The man rose up and walked over, extending his hand, "Thank you for coming. My condolences to your mother."

"Family comes first," Ash replied, "Although she had told me not to wait for her."

"Very well. Let's get down to business."

He saw one member from each of Hoenn's military branches being represented in this conference, all seated behind name signs and quietly whispering to one another.

"We requested you here for military advice. The enemy is unlike anyone we have fought before on Hoenn. Well trained, well armed and very dangerous, ever since this Cacturne Syndicate, led by the mysterious Harley has surfaced. We've tried operations on Hoenn's north shore, only for them to be ineffective."

"So that's why I'm here." Ash finished, "To make the military look like it knows what it's doing."

"Lieutenant, we know what we are doing." The Admiral at the Navy chair sternly replied, "I suggest you mind your manners, since you are no longer in Federation territory and therefore we are your superiors."

"Admiral, with all due respect, I do not believe that the armed forces of Hoenn are able to deal with this threat. They are built for foreign threats, not internal."

"What are you proposing?" The colonel at the Marines asked.

"Give me three of your best men or women from the Army, Navy and Marines." Ash took out a datapad, "And this Lieutenant from the Navy,"

"Lieutenant, we brought you here to create an army and neutralize the threat."

"If you're under the belief that I'm going to make you an army of Commandos, you're highly mistaken." He got a flurry of murmurs from the panel upon that statement, "I've trained two dozen of them and only half that number made the cut. It is one of the most difficult units to get into, which is why I asked for the best men and women from those three branches. This is a job more of a small task force, not for an army."

"Ten men against dozens?! Are you out of your mind?"

"Last week, I led four others against dozens of Hunter J's men and came out victorious."

The Army general drummed his fingers on the table and gave Ash a penetrating stare. He was used to such gazes and paid scant attention to its underlying meaning, "Perhaps it was a mistake in bringing you here."

Had they been lower ranking, Ash would have been a bit more emotional, but he kept his cool in check. Throwing back an equally icy gaze, he flatly stated, "You just pulled me away from my dying mother, who has weeks to live, halfway around the world to do my job and then you begin to tell me that what I am saying is absurd and that it was a mistake. Now I see why it is hard to tackle this threat and how it got so powerful in just a short time; you are very conforming."

His words had silenced the officers and they stared blankly at him.

Ash continued, "I know it is hard to accept criticism. Believe me, I get plenty of it, however you have a problem and I'm here to fix it. If you want this Harley and Cacturne Syndicate neutralized as soon as possible, I can call Surge and sanction an operation from the Fed's top brass. I'll have a whole platoon of Commandos and we'll roll in and erase the group within forty eight hours. However, I don't think that is the best option. I can't create and army of Commandos at your disposal as you may have initially thought, but I can create a squad of them."

He paused to let the cogs in their head turn at what he had just said. "Bringing me here and telling me things I can't do is a waste of my time, as you have instructors who can do the same thing. I'm not saying that I am going to fix this problem by my proposed squad task force, but the methods you are using right now are definitely not working well. What I have in mind might not just deal with the Syndicate, but anything else that may happen domestically and it could be even worse. So if you're going to continue criticizing my ideas as unorthodox, go ahead. As a Commando; it's my job to think outside the box. Or, you can listen to what I have to say and let me do my job."

The panel conversed with one another before the Army representative finally nodded, "Alright Lieutenant, we'll give you a chance. But one further incident of insubordination and we'll make sure you pay for it. I don't give a damn about what your service to the Feds, I'll personally make it so that you can't step a toe onto this country again without a major hassle, even if it's on duty. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Very good. Now what do you have in mind?"

* * *

 **It would be safe to say that the stunt that Ash pulled off in that room would probably incite a worse punishment that just a threat.**

 **Next chapter we get to meet May and slowly inch towards where the two will meet. Apologies for not being around, this chapter was just difficult to write and I feel like it's not my best, even after editing twice** **, plus I am shopping for a new car since my cousin will be buying my old one** **. I had wanted to show a bit of drama and having an experienced guy like him, show the uptight officers that he is a bit unorthodox. Besides, these guys are not the first people he's going to be butting heads against.  
**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	5. Chapter 5

Broadstone University was situated on the west section of Petalburg. Dubbed as the "College District" the majority of households here were students of Broadstone and during the summer, many students would be seen relaxing on the beaches that were just a ten minute drive west from the city limits.

The brick building campus sprawled at just slightly less than a thousand acres and it had a good sized population of more than twelve thousand students. Degrees offered at the school were in engineering, arts, journalism, business, communications and human resource services.

The Broadstone Mightyenas was constantly ranked as the one of the three best football teams in the nation out of the nine major universities in Hoenn. Their rivalry with neighboring University of South Hoenn or the USH Tentacruel was one of the most intense in college football.

One such student, May Maple was sitting inside one of the academic halls, waiting for class to begin. The windows on the side of the auditorium showed an impressive view over the campus' football practice field. In the background was a looming structure of the main football stadium, where the Mightyenas would play out their well-known offense, known for being notoriously unpredictable and frustrating for opposing defenses.

At twenty-three years of age, May was five feet and nine inches tall in her senior year. She wore a red casual blouse with blue shorts that went to her upper thighs. Her blue eyes were always radiant and she had brown hair that went just past her shoulders. By most standards, she was considered quite attractive and often incited many of the opposite gender to turn heads in her direction.

Personality wise, she was a little introverted. Growing up, she had only a few true friends and her younger brother Max, who was equally as much as a confidant as he was in spilling unwanted secrets. Most people usually got warm friendliness out of her, but there was a select number of people that really knew her true self.

The drawing of the blinds had cut off May's view of the football team practicing and she turned her attention to the center of the auditorium. The gray haired professor of International Relations had just walked in and was discussing something with his students before setting his large briefcase on the desk. Most other students had already taken their places in various spots.

"Afternoon everyone, today's going to be a rather short session since I am running late for an appointment. We're going to be starting a new project today and I sent an email to all of your student accounts with more in-depth details. After the premier had announced new cooperation with the Kanto-Johto Federation, everyone will be collaborating with someone from there, sharing thoughts on how this mutual agreement could benefit both nations. You'll be publishing an essay of at least four pages from your discussion. This will be due in two weeks, so if any of you have pressing matters or are a procrastinator by nature, I'd start as soon as possible. The most difficult part in this will likely be finding someone available, as finding someone who is an active Federation citizen is not easy here."

"How are we supposed to find someone then?" A student asked.

"Good question," The professor smiled, "On the email I sent to you are several websites that contain chat rooms in an anonymous pen pal style of messaging. I'm doing this with several other Federation universities, so most of you will be able to get a chat partner quickly. If you're still having trouble within the next couple of days, come see me and I will be able to set you up with someone."

The rest of class went by smoothly.

* * *

"May!"

Upon hearing her name being called, she turned around smiling at the display. Joining her at her table was her best friend Dawn Berlitz. Personality wise, she was almost her exact opposite, bubbly and outgoing. Physically, she was slightly taller with slightly bluish and similar azure eyes. Nevertheless, they were the inseparable of friends, having met nearly ten years ago when she moved to Hoenn from Sinnoh to live with her aunt and uncle.

"Hey." May motioned towards a second cup of a frosted mocha drink. "Got you your favorite flavor."

"Thanks," Dawn sipped from it, "So how was IR?"

"The usual. Professor had to leave because of an appointment, but now we have some project report that people are already describing it as ultra difficult. I think I have a new number one hated class."

"C'mon," Dawn gave her a slight elbow, "It's just two more semesters and we'll be graduating."

"Yeah, but." May longingly looked away, "I'm just a year away from getting a bachelor's and it feels like I am nowhere closer to my goal."

From an early age, May Maple had aspirations to become a fashion model, she excercised regularly to keep unwanted pounds off her curvy frame and thanks to her family's deep pockets, she had clothes that was very popular with a lot of the young women in Hoenn.

Before Dawn could respond, May's phone began to ring. The tone it was playing gave away whom was calling.

"Hey."

"Hey babe," May's boyfriend Drew Hayden greeted in his usual fashion, "How was class?"

"Fine, the professor issued another stupid report to be done soon. We have to exchange our ideals with someone from the Federation and then write a damn essay about it."

"Ah that sucks," The two of them had been introduced to one another by her own father during her first year in college. Drew had graduated as a senior with a degree in business and was her father's number two in his company. It was evident that he was quite attracted to her and they had been dating for roughly a year and a half. "Anyway, your father and I are going to be leaving on a business trip to Lumiose City in a week. We should be gone for about half a week, maybe a little more. I was wondering if we could go enjoy dinner somewhere tomorrow night when you get home. Got plenty to talk about with you."

"Oh," May looked over at Dawn, "Well I'd love to but Dawn and I were going to see Lisia perform. Plus, I have a ton of other classes to study for."

"Oh that's right I totally forgot," Drew chuckled, "Well how about when I get back?"

"Yeah sure I'd love to."

"Okay babe," He paused, "Have fun."

"I will."

"Love ya."

May giggled slightly, "You too." Then she hung up.

"He asked you to dinner didn't he?" Dawn had a bit of a smirk on her face.

"Yep."

"Well we've been waiting for these," She rifled through her purse to bring out two tickets. The most popular singer in Hoenn, Lisia was coming to Petalburg City as part of the beginning of her world tour. Both May and Dawn were big fans of her ever since she had posted a name for herself when she was only eleven years old.

"It's going to be so cool seeing her in person for the first time!" Dawn squealed like she was a full decade younger.

"I know! I'm gonna get a head start on my project so it doesn't get put to the back of my mind. The professor said this one was going to be anything but easy."

"Okay," Dawn stood up, "C'mon, let's get home."

As they walked to their parked car in the garage, May typed in one of the searching websites, the intended dinner date with Drew had instead been pushed to the forgotten section. This project was one that could make or break her grade and she did not want to do a bad job.

She only hoped that her other source was reliable.

* * *

They stood out in the sun as it reached its hottest point in the afternoon. Although fall was quickly approaching, the summer heat had not loosened its grip and temperatures still climbed to sweltering levels.

As he paced in front of the dozen men and women in front, they tried their best not to avert their gaze from being directly ahead.

He wasn't that much older than them, maybe even younger than a couple, but they could tell that his eyes and overall swagger was equal to a soldier that was five years older than himself.

He could tell that they were starting to get a bit unnerved, as they could feel sweat running through their clothes and crawling underneath the skin to create a rather uncomfortable itching sensation. They dared not to scratch it, due to the fact that he was their commanding officer for the time being and they would be on the receiving end of his anger. They tried to anticipate and move if he wasn't looking, but he hadn't established a pattern of inspection and hadn't spoken a word for nearly ten minutes.

Movement caught his eye and Ash Ketchum was a blur of tan and gray fatigues and he strode straight up to the kid who had shifted his posture.

"Did I give you permission to move?"

"No sir! Sorry sir!"

"Did I give you permission to apologize?"

"No sir!"

Ash looked down in disgust, "Drop and give me fifty. Now."

"Sir!" The man got on all fours and began doing pushups. Secretly, he was relieved that his new CO had not unleashed his full wrath on him.

The only man that wasn't part of the inspection was roughly Ash's height and he stood with his arms crossed, scanning the recruits. He didn't say anything, even when he caught one of them slightly moving, but the two exchanged glances, causing him to prowl where Ash was not currently at. The man was the only other officer with the group and was set to be Ash's number two, but there would be time where they would work on drills themselves.

Ketchum stood in front of a man at the end, "What is your weapon of choice?"

"M nine millimeter sir!"

"Wrong answer," He said in an almost taunting voice, "Try that again."

"Serrated Survival Knife sir!"

"Try again soldier." Ash was never one for yelling like a stereotypical drill sergeant, instead they hated him because he was more portrayed as a sinister villain always with something to gripe about.

He jabbed two fingers right on the man's forehead, his own CO had done that many times and it got right on his nerves. "How about your mind? That is your weapon of choice and you should protect it at all costs!"

He stood upright, "Everyone, look to your left," When they all turned their heads, "Now to your right."

"All those people you see are now going to be your family for the next month and you won't see all of them by the time I'm done with you pussies! I was called here to help your country erase an organized crime syndicate that has gotten your top brass frustrated. You are what I asked for in the best of the Army, Navy and Marines, but right now you are all a bunch of jokers that I wouldn't even trust to get me my lunch. What makes you all think that I would trust any of you to watch my back while facing one of the most dangerous radical factions on the planet?"

He surveyed them all, satisfied that they had for the most part, remained unmoving, but they kept their eyes focused on him, "They are out there, smart, dangerous and they never sleep! They have one dream, to make Hoenn's people, government and military suffer! We are the ones in charge of stopping them and to do that, I'm here to mold all of you into a new breed of soldier! I'm Lieutenant Ketchum. You will address me as Lieutenant or sir unless I instruct otherwise. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" They shouted in unison.

"Good. Now if you are going to talk to one another from here on out, it better be a thanks for saving your ass down the road. One day, they might be the only thing standing between you and the barrel of a rifle pointed at your forehead. So you all have to earn the respect of Lieutenant Decker here, from myself and from your brothers and sisters standing beside you now. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good. Let's begin." Ash gave a smile in anticipation of the many difficult and exhausting drills he was about to put the recruits through. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

 **Thanks to an updated work schedule, I now know that I will usually post an update every Tuesday or Friday.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	6. Chapter 6

Most would have already hated Ash as a CO already. He was quite harsh, but often incited a cold personality compared to a more vocal drill instructor.

Before he had them stand out in the heat, he interviewed all nine candidates one by one, determining if their skills were necessary for the type of operator he was looking for.

Of course, Lieutenant Brendan Decker was a lock for getting a spot on his task force; the man was personally cited for bravery twice while in action, he was an excellent shot and someone that people could look to as a leader.

Brendan wore a white knit cap and was out of his normal fatigue top in favor of a black athlete shirt. His pearly gray eyes seemed to have a laser focus embedded into them and from what Ash had obtained from his file; Brendan's parents had died when he was young. The man was independent from an early age.

Many candidates stood out to him; a man named Seth Johnston was already starting to be his problem child. An army specialist, he was cocky, arrogant and often wanted to stand up to Ash, although he had to batten him down a few notches on multiple occasions. The positive was that he was a pretty good shot and definitely proficient in endurance and unarmed combat. It was to be expected, as he had requested the best men and women in the armed forces for talent and combat prowess. He didn't say anything about discipline.

Zack Arron was a bomb specialist and also had quite an attitude, although it wasn't as bad as Johnston. Currently, Ash still held him in a high regard since he was often cool intense situations. Most of the time, his rather explosive temper was kept under wraps.

Jackson Grey, another young prodigy had everything, putting himself in danger to protect others and good leadership, although he was less proficient on trigger discipline and had a similarly cocky attitude.

Damien Hammond was another standout, being very adept in close quarters and was formerly on a Marine unit that specialized in close quarters on rough terrain. A skill like that was quite useful. He was curt, respectful and had the air of loyalty to his comrades.

Finally the last one that Ash had high hopes for was a young blonde named Jewell, one of the two women he had selected for tryouts. Unfortunately, when he tried to inquire more about such an interesting name, he got nothing. It was even on her dossier, as her birth certificate was never official. Unlike the others, she was very quiet and he guessed that she had the preference to listen and observe before speaking herself. Her accuracy as a Naval Sniper had one of the most exceptional records he had ever seen.

The main highlights of his proposal in the report was to create a group of specialized tacticians to quickly and effectively capture and or neutralize threats on Hoenn soil or foreign areas where an asset or citizen of the nation was endangered.

Much of his inspiration was drawn from the Federation's own domestic CTHSG, or the Army's Counter Terror and Hostage Rescue Group. They were nicknamed the Weaviles due to their effective nature of teamwork and ability to anticipate enemy movements while keeping assets and hostages from being harmed.

However, Hoenn had no special type of force to perform such a task. The military was too high profile and the police were not properly equipped.

Brought to critique their mess, he had already concluded that there was no need in revamping the military structure or how they ran things, they just needed a group of people specialized for the task.

Another issue that he immediately saw was the arms that they carried. Old G3 rifles. For comparison, the Federation had adopted the G3 rifle family as standard service weapon more than three decades ago and had phased them out completely for the more favorable M416 for the last seven years. It wasn't necessarily considered obsolete, but even Hoenn's special forces were in need of better weapons.

"Totally agree." Brendan concluded as he laid his own service rifle in front of a table. They had spent the last couple of hours examining them, "This rifle's probably older than me and I have no doubt that it had a previous user."

Remarkably, the G3 had remained quite reliable within its long life, almost as good as the AKs. Yet if they were going to run this task force with enough effectiveness, they needed better weaponry.

* * *

The firing range was a staccato of gunshots as the nine candidates practiced hitting distant targets mounted on a hill to practice their marksmanship. While the drill was important, Ash was not just looking for accuracy.

When he would be frustrated while on duty, he found it quite calming to take a few magazines of ammunition into the firing range with a marksman rifle and drill a bullseye into a target.

He studied them through a pair of binoculars, splitting the time observing their hits to their reactions and how they made corrections. Everyone was different and some got more irritated with their inaccuracy than others.

He stood up and walked over to Zack, using his toe he nudged his thigh.

"Prop your leg out a little more and rest the stock a little further underneath your shoulder."

He did it without any word. Firing again, Ash brought the optics to his eyes, glad to see that the shot had been the closest to the center yet.

"Good job."

"Thank you sir." Zack turned his attention back to the range; smiling slightly over the praise he had just been given.

Moving down the range, Ash's attention was brought to Seth. He fired off a multitude of shots, but they were all off center. He saw him give off a pleased look at what he had done.

"Seth, shift your left arm slightly back."

"Sir, this was how I was taught. I was the best in my class." He protested.

"Then your instructors must be very proud." Ash sarcastically complimented, "When you're out on the field and there's an enemy pointing a gun at an innocent civilian, you only get one chance and it could mean that the opportunity only lasts for a couple of seconds with the space to hit the enemy being smaller than a cell phone at that distance." He pointed out to the targets, "I would not trust you to take that shot if that's your best."

Seth fired three more shots, which Ash allowed since he knew they would miss their mark. He was only doing that to further prove him wrong.

"If you're going to be a free standing shooter, move your aiming hand a little closer. Otherwise, prop out the kickstand and use that for stability."

He looked back up at Ash and was about to protest when he said, "You going to find another excuse or are you going to do as I say?"

"Fine," Grumbling, Seth moved his hand to stabilize his aim and flicking out the bipod mounted on the rifle. He steadied his aim and fired again, this time hitting much closer to the target than his previous shots.

"Do it again," Ash instructed without emotion, "Adjust your scope out by point two."

He fired again and the bullet struck a mere centimeter from dead center. By the look on the recruit's face, Seth had seemingly surprised himself.

"Now that is how a top marksman of their class shoots." Ash moved on, with the recruit's shock evident. It was almost as if it was something everyone should know.

His star pupil in this field, Jewell had all the boys beat when it came to accuracy. Although he would never admit it, her marksmanship rivaled Brock's and his own.

"Hit the top left of the target. Inside the yellow."

Without saying anything, Jewell shifted her aim and fired a single shot. A new bullet hole suddenly appeared in the ten o'clock right inside the yellow zone.

"Good job Jewell. Now how about a real challenge?"

Finding a remote in his pocket, Ash aimed it downrange and hit a couple of buttons. The target Jewell was hitting began to move to the left.

"Hit it dead center."

Sliding into a crouching position, she brought the scope to her eye and quickly aimed, firing three shots in a steady succession. All three hit very close to the center. Increasing the speed, Ash suddenly made it change direction, but she was unfazed, having expected the turnaround. Switching positions, she rolled back into lying and shot the final two rounds downrange. Both had hit very close to their mark.

Looking behind, both of them saw the remainder of the recruits staring in complete awe. It was impressive enough.

Ash was the first to react, "Until you lowlifes can do that, you're all shit at aiming. Cease fire."

* * *

"Lieutenant Ketchum reporting as ordered." Ash was dressed neatly in Hoenn military fatigues, but still kept the gold Houndoom emblem of a Commando firmly on his chest, along with the row of medals and ribbons he had earned while in service.

"At ease." The Army General gestured to across the table, "I'm afraid I'm going to have keep this short so I'll get to the point." He paused, "I'm very glad to see you putting a whole lot of effort into making it the best task force possible. We've concluded reviewing your proposals and I personally agree with a lot of your statements, although it sounds like you want to make more of a special police officer group than a military one."

"The goal was to keep them as a bit of a hybrid. Sort of militarily armed, but the actions are to assist either them or the law enforcement wherever necessary. Whatever can be done to neutralize the threat and learn from them to prevent future ones."

"Most of us agree with that statement and you're getting your blank check but let me tell you that it wasn't all smiles."

"I never expected it to be sir, but you do have faith in what I am doing right?"

"Personally," The general nodded, "I do, but everyone else including the premier of Hoenn thinks otherwise. So we've been forced to step up your group's active duty deadline to next week."

"That's not enough time for me to get everyone completely ready. It may be able to only get three, maybe four besides Lieutenant Decker and myself."

"They will have to do. The Cacturne Syndicate's activity in the north has increased and chatter suggests they're about to do something and go public. We need to be ready soon."

Ash looked at him, "We're currently undergoing the new simulator for hostage rescue scenarios and hopefully I can get my hands on some new toys in time. We'll be ready, although I wish I had more time to train more operators."

"A small group of tight knit warriors isn't necessarily a bad thing. You Commandos can go out in groups of four or five and take down an entire enemy force."

"Those are the Commandos; we're trained so that if we don't watch one another's back one or all of us would wind up dead. Sometimes, we'd be weeks out without contact for reinforcements or extraction and had to rely on one another for survival. This is an urban warfare special police group, where such backup should be readily available on hand."

"Your concern is noted Lieutenant," The general stated calmly, "By next week, we will need to get this new unit of yours to active duty."

* * *

 **So the group is slowly coming together with nine candidates in line to become Ash and Brendan's coworkers with this new special unit! Who will make the cut down to three additional members?  
**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was beginning to settle behind the horizon as the three men inside the office building stood out at the balcony on the entrance. Their eyes scanned the ground ahead, knowing that somewhere out there was the foe. They had their hands close to their weapons, but remained idle.

Without warning, the guard by the door was hit by three thumping sounds and was out cold. The other two got up in confusion, seeing their fellow coworker go down and were met with similar fates.

Like a group of ninjas, four figures in black combat fatigues emerged from the shadows. Each of them had the dark undersuit and a black combat vest with cargo pants. A tactical pad was on each of their left wrists and a small earpiece was on their right side. In addition, the vest had a small optical camera on the right shoulder.

The weapons they carried were Gastly M4s, compact parabellum submachine guns intended for close quarter gunfights. A small reflex sight was mounted on the upper rail and they were also equipped with sound suppressors to reduce the noise output.

"Tangos down." The one in the lead reported. "Moving to position."

Surveying the area, the four operatives moved up to the house, constantly shifting their aim for threats. They stacked up at the door, one just by the handle, another two ready to move in and the final one watching the six.

"Go!"

The man by the door reared back his foot and used all his strength to kick it in. A split second later, the other two entered with weapons ready.

Four tangos were inside, ready for an attack, but also unexpected that it happened so suddenly. The first two operatives drilled two hostiles each. They were down before the other two had entered the door behind them.

"Four tangos down."

"Move up." The second one ordered.

"Moving."

Splitting into two groups of two, they began to search the various rooms. One team went upstairs while the other cleared out the bottom.

"Top floor's clear."

On the bottom, the leader approached a room with his partner behind. He turned around, holding up a fist and cupped his chin with his pointing finger and thumb, a signal to indicate that a hostage was inside. The man behind him tapped his shoulder, a wordless gesture that his back was covered.

In a fluid motion, he rounded the corner, seeing a slim shape of a female huddled on the floor. She was bound and gagged.

The second man entered behind and surveyed the rest of the room, "Clear." He called out after a few moments.

Seth Johnston gently lifted the girl up and removed the gag and slit the bounds with his knife. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and he hauled her to her feet. "Stay behind us."

Just then Jewell's voice came from the comms, "We've got confirmed hostiles moving in from the north."

Johnston looked outside the window, although the enemy was approaching, he had no clear view. "I see nothing. You're just being paranoid. We're coming out the front."

He motioned towards Zack Arron, the second man behind him as they headed back.

With their hostage in tow, Jewell and their fourth man joined them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Alright, on me." Seth waved them on as he took the lead and stepped out the front door.

Before them a half dozen Volbeat and Illumise lights twinkled out of the darkness with an abrupt flash. For a second, Seth was a bit stunned at the display. Mostly because they were not the Firefly Pokemon.

"Incoming fire!" He shouted, just as a flurry of bullets started ripping through the air. He had made a dash back inside, but a shot had hit him right in the breast. Seth dropped limply to the ground before he could even issue another order.

"Shit, Seth's down!" Zack had to yell over the loud gunfire.

Jewell held their shaking hostage back as she leaned out at a rather wide angle from the door. Through the scope, she had her aim trained on one of the dark figures that suddenly made a quick dart to the house's entrance. She figured that whomever was with him had the open ground covered, so Zack wouldn't be able to fire back without any nasty repurcussions.

Pulling the trigger, she moved her arms and tightened her left fist on the Gastly's foregrip. It was a muted cough, but the discharged rounds caught the attacker in the chest, dropping him.

"They're coming from the back!" The other operative shouted before the sounds of gunshots from behind had silenced his next words.

Zack had heard it too and turned around to find himself being hit with two bullets, taking him out.

Jewell raised her weapon just as a hooded figure wielding an AKM rifle approached from behind. Her own weapon coughed out three rounds, dropping him before the bolt clacked open. The gun was out of ammo.

Not wasting a minute, she threw a quick glance at their hostage before taking out an extra magazine. Movement caught her eye as another armed hoodlum rounded the corner. It was a quick decisive choice of what to do, but one that both the Navy and Lieutenant Ketchum had drilled into her.

Pulling out her M9 millimeter, she trained the pistol on the thug and put two more rounds into him. She didn't even wait for the next foe as she moved from her position to survey for a way out.

Then a third figure emerged from cover and had already closed the distance between the two of them before she could shift her aim. A hand balled into a fist and it connected with her jaw, stunning her for a moment, but knocking her sidearm away from her. The submachine gun was out of ammo and she was defenseless against her assailant. In the corner, the hostage seemed to shrink even further in.

"Terrible effort," The man spat with disgust, drawing his pistol before turning around. The trigger was pulled and the hostage fell to the ground, unmoving. He then turned back to Jewell, "You're dead."

Brendan Decker pulled down the hood and holstered his sidearm. Underneath he wore a white knit cap that covered all but a small portion of his dark hair, but his gray eyes remained cold. "Abort!"

Upon recognizing the voice command, lights in the house snapped on and a few seconds later, men in maintenance uniforms began tending to the "dead"

Both Zack and Seth lay limply on the floor as they were sprayed with a fine mist. Just in the other hallway, their hostage and "hostiles" were being applied to in a similar manner.

Seth coughed a couple of times before he let out an exasperated gasp as he finally got his senses back. Moments later, they could hear Zack reacting similarly.

Instead of rubber rounds, the new experimental tactical training rounds dissolved into a fine mist that weakly paralyzed the body, thanks to research on Shrommish and Breloom to make a less powerful paralysis that was safe to be cured for military drill purposes. Any target that was hit in a "fatal" manner would go limp and be stunned until an antidote was applied on the body. The feeling was described as if liquid ice was poured over the body before dying and then waking up a second time.

The door opened as Ash Ketchum barged right in and had a pissed off look on his face. The recruits all weakly stood up and straightened themselves.

"You all know what I'm going to say so I'll keep it short and snappy," He pointed a finger straight at Seth. "You're supposed to be lying on the floor dead because you didn't heed Jewell's warning there! Never ever second guess a teammate's judgment even if they're paranoid. It could mean the difference between life and death!" He moved down the line, stopping at Zack and the other man named Gould, "The two of you should also be lying on the floor dead!"

He focused now on Jewell, who looked as if she was about to lash out at him too. "And you!"

His hand came out and aggressively shoved her back, "You should be dead as well. All of you would be dead because you didn't pay attention to the signs. You're lucky this is just a prototype wargame simulation! Do something like this here and all you dipshits get an F. You do something stupid like that out there are you get killed! When you get killed, your teammates lose confidence and Lieutenant Decker here loses confidence and so does the government officials that gave you the assignment! Everything is on your shoulders and Brendan's, because if it isn't, he's going to be writing a letter to your family telling them about your fate." Ash lowered his voice, "Nobody likes receiving one of those letters, so watch after one another out there, watch the signs of danger and don't let your guard down, even for a second."

"Yes sir." They all said in unison.

"At ease." He commanded, causing them to relax their posture, "We're going to run the sim again at twenty two hundred sharp. Lieutenant Decker here will be leading this time. Now we've had some mishaps and things that haven't gone as smoothly as I had initially planned. By the end of tomorrow, I will have made my decision in picking members of my team for this new urban warfare unit. Like I said when we started, not all of you are going to be accepted. Any questions?"

They all shook their heads.

"Good. Be back in the sim briefing room by twenty two hundred sharp with all your gear."

* * *

Ash stood up on the tall observation tower inside the simulator. It was a large canopied compound easily the size of a football field. The deck offered a clean view of the entire compound so that he could see everything going on.

At the touch of a button this entire environment sim was developed by a Petalburg software firm for military exercises and mock operations. The settings could go from everything from torrential rain to super intense sunlight.

An earpiece in his left side was linked to one in each of his candidates as they began the simulation. All the operatives participating on his team could be heard by a similar earpiece of their own and he could hear what they were saying to one another. He also had another radio to direct the enemy combatants and set them up in formations that proved challenging to his recruits.

Previously he had said nothing about any details in running the sim, except to locate and rescue the lone hostage inside. (Said person was a civilian volunteer)

Brendan took the lead as Ash began to watch. Leading Jewell, Hammond and Arron, he was the first to emerge and snuck slightly to the structure's left. The front entrance had a part of it obscuring the right, essentially creating a blind spot for him to go through without being spotted.

"In position."

"Ready to fire." Jewell affirmed.

"On your go." Arron added.

"Locked." Hammond said.

"Go!" At once, the other three operatives fired their weapons at the twin guards posted at the front.

"They're coming from the front." Ash said into a radio to the "hostiles", "Move out to the entrance and assume defensive maneuvers in a Bravo format, if they hold position go after them. Do not abandon the hostage under any circumstances. Have one man with her at all times."

"Roger." That was followed by a couple more affirmations from the team leader.

Most of the enemy team had opened the other windows of the building and had fired at where they believed Jewell, Hammond and Arron were hiding. By the chatter on their comms, it appeared that they had a bead on their position.

"I'm under fire!"

"Taking shots," Arron shouted, "Move position!"

"How much longer do you need Decker?" Hammond wondered aloud.

"Three seconds,"

A few suppressed gunshots came from the house. "Tangos down."

"Moving up," Hammond said, as he and Arron began their advance. Jewell trailed them behind, keeping a keen eye on the sides.

Decker was waiting for them inside when movement had caught his eye. The enemy combatant had blended so well into the night shadows that he was practically invisible. The little light and shifting of movement had almost startled him.

A metallic object was heard being unsheathed and Decker parried the forearm, almost feeling blindly as the assailant came at him with a serrated combat knife. He jabbed an elbow into the man's ribs before finishing him with a powerful knee.

"Bottom floor clear." He gestured to the others, who had just entered, "Sweep upstairs in twos. Jewell with me to the basement."

"Got it." Arron and Hammond moved out, putting a slight gap in between them and shifting only when the other had their back.

Taking point, Jewell was first into the staircase that led into the pitch blackness of the bottom. When she reached the end, a flick of her finger to the right indicated Decker to take that side.

Leaning around the corner, Decker could see a bar, pool table and another door that was behind the main counter area.

"Left's clear." Jewell reported.

"Top floor's clear." Arron added, "No sign of the hostage."

"They're probably in the basement." Decker said. "Keep watch for incoming hostiles if possible. Jewell and I will flush them out."

She regrouped with him at the end of the bar before they both barged it right open.

There was a light on inside the room and it showed three figures. One on its knees, another holding a rifle pointed at the door and the third had a pistol trained on the kneeling one's head.

Brendan was horribly exposed upon his entry to the rifleman aiming at the door, but his priority was the safety of the hostage. However if he didn't do something about the one aiming a gun squarely at him, he would have half his body become hamburger. He had to make a decision based on what would happen if this was the real world.

He quickly aimed at his first target and fired. Before the man could shoot him, he dropped after a stream of five rounds impacted him in the stomach, toppling him over.

Right behind him was Jewell and she lined the executioner up in her scope, blasting him to the ground.

"Two tangos down." Decker bent down to examine their hostage, "Are you all right?"

She weakly nodded as he removed the gag and helped her up. "Hostage secure."

"Nice work guys," Ash said over the radio, "Abort."

At his command, the lights inside the building snapped on and crewmembers bustled in to tend to the dead "enemies".

* * *

One hour later, Ash had all of his nine recruits line up directly in front of him as he paced about. They were all neatly in their service uniform and had all their medals, clothing and postures as if they were on an awards ceremony.

"First off, I want to thank each and every one of you for putting in time to help me out on this new spec ops team that I am putting together. I called for the best of each branch you all represent here and was not disappointed. Without a doubt, even some of you had some improvements and the varying levels had likely influenced your opinions of me." He got a chuckle from the group, "You all grew a lot just by listening to what I had to say and that alone makes you better soldiers than your peers."

He stopped to look down the line again, "Now if I could, I would accept all of you to be on this task force, however time constraints have forced me to select only three of you. I did say that not everyone would still be alongside me as we went on though. Know this; you have all earned my respect for you as a serviceman and a person."

Walking along the recruits, he handed them each a white envelope, "Inside three of these envelopes is a detailed analysis of you when we had worked together. I would like all of you to further learn from the report that I conducted and pass on to others. For the three that I have chosen, there are further instructions. Thank you again everyone for participating. Dismissed."

* * *

 **So next chapter, we get to find out who Ash and Brendan's coworkers are and they will have little time to spare as they'll be getting some work right away! Hope you all have enjoyed the triple updates this week, it probably will be going back to a Tuesday and Friday.**

 **Thanks everyone for reading and thanks for reviewing. You give my writing purpose.**


	8. Chapter 8

Checking his watch, Ash and Brendan heard a door opposite them open and they looked up to see the excited faces of Zack Arron, Damien Hammond and Jewell enter the room. They were the three he had selected and personally had the highest hopes for. If he could, he would have likely taken all of them.

This unique looking building was going to serve as the headquarters for the new unit designated as the Specialized Urban Warfare Tactics Group or the Jets, due to their swiftness. It would be located on the west side of Petalburg, just off the ramp of the roundabout highway that circled the city.

It was a two story building that had a standard concrete look and polarized windows with the logo of a embroidered and dramatized black colored Latios spread out with its wings. Underneath it was a folded banner reading "First to respond, last to stand"

Inside was a small security office that checked visitors as they entered before a double set of glass doors that had the same emblem on the marble floor underneath.

They immediately had shocked expressions at its contemporary appearance, plenty of stainless steel, solid walls and overall warm atmosphere. It looked as if it was designed for an intelligence headquarters.

Their main office had good sized rooms with two on one side and three on the other. At the end of the hallway was a large set of screens and a computer terminal that must've been worth a half million. The locking screen displayed the group's logo with a silver backdrop.

"Welcome to your new office,"

"How in the world did this happen?" Zack was still in question.

"Two words, blank check." Ash stepped forward, holding a black box with the name Jewell on it. Next to him, Brendan Decker followed suit with one for Damien and Zack.

"Are you all ready to get started?" They all nodded, "Good. Place your left hand on the box with your name on it, raise your right hand and repeat after me."

"I, state your name solemnly swear ."

"I Jewell/Zack Arron/Damien Hammond solemnly swear,"

"To uphold the principles of the constitution of the Republic of Hoenn's armed forces."

"And to protect all of Hoenn's people and interests both at home and abroad. I will treat my fellow operatives as equals and always have their backs, even if it means giving my life for them."

"As a member of the Specialized Urban Warfare Tactics Group, I will put myself in harm's way for the sake of the safety of the defenseless. To this I pledge my sacred honor."

"So by the power invested in me on the behalf of the Island Republic of Hoenn," Ash replied, "I deem you all to be active members of the Specialized Urban Warfare Tactics Group. Please open the box."

They each gently unfolded it to reveal a shiny silver emblem symbolizing their ranking on the top left. Next to it was a shiny silver pistol.

"This is the FNP pistol," Decker explained, "Chambered in the forty five caliber. Mint condition and the Urban Warfare Group's new standard sidearm."

"Well done," Ash shook each of their hands, "We start tomorrow. How about drinks on me tonight?"

There was nobody there to disagree on that mark.

* * *

May could hardly wait for this night. She was going to finally see an idol that she had admired for years ever since Lisia had made her debut in singing. A lot of her inspiration came from the fact that the stage was a place where she could just be herself. It didn't help that she and Dawn were as giddy as they were when they had been high schoolers ogling cute boys.

After paying a ridiculous amount of money for parking outside Petalburg's event center, a massive silver dome in the metropolis' downtown, they made their way towards the entrance.

Much of the crowd was close to her age, in their early to mid-twenties. Lisia was quite the sensation with the group, producing multiple albums that consistently ranked in the top ten. An upbeat style typically was used at dancing parties with seemingly inexhaustible energy. Flashing their tickets through the booth, they were cleared and made their way into the seats. A crowd of seven thousand was expected today.

She was in the midst of getting the camera on her cell phone ready for her to come out when she accidentally bumped into someone much larger than her. The impact knocked the phone from her hands and it skittered across the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" She gave him a once over, noticing that he looked kind of out of place. He was a bit burly, with a full starting beard and wore a dark pair of jeans along with suspenders over a tan shirt, in his ear there was a wire . She could easily see the black metallic of a pistol on his left hip and a wave of fear washed over her. There was scant attention paid to the long black case he carried in his right hand. Behind him was a slightly shorter man of a similar build with the same outfit.

He was definitely a standout since the dull colors heavily contrasted with the vibrant, stylish outfits most of the attendees had. However, since he was with a partner, she had deduced that they were merely security.

"It's alright miss," He bent down and handed her phone back to her, "Just watch where you're going next time." To ease the awkwardness a little, he flashed a small smile.

"Ok thanks," May slipped the phone back into her pocket and they moved on. Neither herself or Dawn looked back, as if they had done so, the man was giving them an intrigued stare. His partner got the message and they silently agreed together.

"Creepy." Dawn remarked when they were out of earshot. May herself couldn't help but have a strange feeling in her gut. There was nothing to show that they were part of security, but they seemed like they were nonetheless.

May and Dawn's seats were at the far left end of the stage, a smaller section closer to where she would be performing. Several others had already taken their seats as the show was about five minutes from starting.

Everything went from completely calm to chaotic in less than half a second.

A dozen masked men had walked into their section, all carrying duffel bags. At first, They opened them in plain sight, pulled out a short assault rifle each and fired into the ceiling. For the next few moments, everyone was completely confused in what was going on before the thoughts of terror began to sink in and panicked screams began to come from the entire place.

"Nobody move!" A voice came over the loudspeakers. May turned around to see the same man that she had bumped into. The case that he once carried was now gone and its content, an railed SA58 assault rifle was now pointed in their direction.

Panic began to settle into her, this was a real life attack. She had grown accustomed to watching them on television in the more dangerous parts of north Hoenn and thought that they would never affect her. It was very real now that this event center could very well be the place where she would die.

"You all in those sections!" The man pointed across to the several thousand people, "You all want to live? Stop screaming! Get the hell out of here! Tell the police that the Cacturne Syndicate have hostages and we will kill them if they come inside!"

As they shuffled out with terrified cries, he turned back to his men, "Round em up and get them to center stage!"

"You got it boss," The other man with the one that May bumped into complied and fired his gun into the air three times. The shots echoed through the nearly-empty stage and startled everyone.

"Everybody move now!"

With panicked whispers, May and Dawn moved with the group. If she could make just a subtle note to her father or Drew, maybe they could send help.

"Hey you with the bandanna." The leader looked straight at May, "Don't even think about calling mommy or daddy. Hand it over."

The idea had just crossed her mind, but in a sense, she would be dead if she had gotten caught trying to call for help. She took it out and casually tossed it over to him. He caught it with his free hand before dropping it on the floor and stomping on it with his heel.

May gasped; that phone was one of the few things that she always kept on hand and the case protecting it was one that she had searched for hours online before buying it at a jacked up price. Now it was gone.

"Anybody else with a cell phone, hand it to me now." The leader demanded, "I'm sure all of you did because you would have expected a show tonight. So give it up; otherwise I will be asking my men here to do so for you and they are not as keen on personal space. Especially with you ladies."

There was some shuffling around as the eighteen or so hostages began to reach for their phones and placed them in a pile in one of the seats out of their reach.

"Good. Now, do exactly as we say and you'll be getting out alive. No heroics."

* * *

Ash shut down his laptop on his desk and closed the monitor. The time was now seven in the evening and their first day had been rather uneventful. So far, the only assignments had been trying to get leads on where the Cacturne Syndicate might strike next. That and conducting an exercise on a stakeout had him bored to death.

Zack had gone home for the day to be with his girlfriend and Damien Hammond had approached his door. A bag was slung over his shoulder and he looked kind of tired. He was waved in.

"Hey, Jewell and I were planning on going for some soup and salad at the Petalburg Bakery and Café, wanna join us?"

"Sure, I'll be right there." He looked outside and didn't see Brendan. "Where's Decker?"

"Just left for home to break the news to his family."

"I see."

"Hey," Damien stopped him before they both exited, "I just wanted to say thanks for letting me onto this team. It's been a real honor in being chosen and I won't disappoint you."

Ash smiled back at him, "You will not. At all."

"Hey Lieutenant," Jewell called out just as they were about to leave, "You need to see this."

The tone in her voice was quite urgent, so both men walked briskly into the main room.

Jewell had already familiarized herself with the computers and monitors even when all the boys still had their heads scratching on some of its functions. She had what seemed to be a video feed on one screen.

"This came in about fifteen minutes ago. A group of members claiming to be affiliated with the Cacturne had just stormed the Petalburg Events Center downtown just minutes before a performance by pop star Lisia. They let most of the crowd go but have roughly twenty hostages still inside. Police are onsite and have already been told by patrons and the perpetrators to stay out unless instructed otherwise."

"How did they get past security with all those arms?"

"No idea. Witnesses saw some members of the group acting as augmented security for the event, traveling in pairs, but also seeming to make sure everyone was behaving."

Damien approached the screen, "They're trying to send a message. Asking police to stay away means they're biding their time for something or they have a bomb."

Ash's eyes hardened, "Call Brendan and Zack. Tell them to get back here. This workday is not over yet."

* * *

 **Time to see how these guys do up against the most dangerous criminal group in Hoenn. Think they can come out on top?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay," Ash Ketchum laid out a rough blueprint in front of the four other operatives. "Hostiles have taken roughly twenty hostages in the one hundred and twentieth section inside the events center. We're going to take the side route up and head backstage to get a bead on them. The police are going to try and make contact with the bad guys and negotiate a release, although the real tactic is to stall them so that we can get into position."

"I had Petalburg police gather up a report on the hostages from the tickets of people in that section. Nothing notable stands out, except all were in their early to mid-twenties." Decker added, "Now that seems like a common denominator, but nearly seventy five percent of those who attended this concert fits the age group too."

"Have them keep looking. In the meantime, before we hit the stage, nobody reported seeing Lisia or her bodyguard from exiting. They may still be inside. I'm having Decker and Arron go to check that out while we map out potential strike targets." Ash looked around at everyone as they rocked from side to side in the back of the armored van, "Any questions?"

They all shook their heads.

"Good. These amateurs think they know stakeouts, let's show them how we roll." He peered out the window and was greeted by the familiar red and blue flashing of several law enforcement vehicles surrounding the dark parking lots.

The van finally came to a halt and they opened the door to be greeted by flashing lights and several voices as dozens of police officers milled about. Several were clustered around a couple of cruisers and turned seeing Ash walk on up.

"Lieutenant Ketchum?"

"Sir."

"We're expecting you. I assume you've briefed your team on most of the things so I'll fill in what I can." The police captain said, "We've been trying to initiate contact with the hostiles inside to negotiate a safe release and their only reply was that we stay out until they are ready to talk."

"They're stalling," Another officer chimed in, "Question is what for?"

"Not sure," Ash accepted his combat vest from Damien and slipped it on, "But we're on the clock here, so we're going in."

Back at the van, Brendan popped a hatch in the back where a large locker full of tactical gear was stored. He started putting on the ballistic combat vest as the others did the same. Next came earpieces that would help the team keep communication flowing from them and to the police force on the outside and finally came their weapons.

G3KA4 rifles, the smallest of the weapon family. For now it was going to serve as the Urban Warfare Specialist's standard assault rifle. Although it was fairly old, the gun still had quite a bite to it and remained a reliable one on the field.

Clicks and metallic sounds came from the van as the team collected their gear. Ash slipped his P226 pistol into his right holster, the others carried the FNP. He had four extra magazines of ammunition for both his primary and sidearm. As a Commando he had been told that you can never take too much ammo. His response was more the likes of; in some situations yes, others no.

"Everyone ready?"

They all gave him a thumbs up or said their affirmation.

"Alright, my lead. Just like in the sim."

Instead of taking the main entrances to the events center, they opted for the side area where several docks were seen. Here event staff and transportation personnel would load or offload crucial supplies to whatever was going on. From there, they could have immediate access to the main floor and nearby elevators could move plenty of cargo to the other floors.

It was eerily quiet and dark as they made their way down the long docking part. Ash was in front on point with Decker just behind them. Jewell and Zack flanked a few steps behind and Damien brought up the rear.

The entire docking area was clear, so they hustled inside. Again silence.

"Okay, Decker. Head to the backstage on the second floor. Jewell, Hammond and I will be on the main area."

"I'm on it." Decker tapped Zack on the shoulder and they quietly shifted to the left.

"Okay," Ash turned back to them, "On me."

Once again, they all couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the place. It was that it was such a massive building and that no sound except for the humming of machinery was heard. The concrete was thick enough in there to block out the noise of the outside. From years of experience, a silent building could mean foes lying in wait to unexpectedly ambush.

Ash was first up one of the staircases that led to the stands and he aimed up at the top in case of a potential threat. With his free hand, he gestured for the other two to move on up. He kept his eye through the red reflex sight mounted on the top rail until they cleared the upper floor.

This new level had much more of a recent human presence. Food stands had some machines still operating, but much of the panic had neglected several things. In the midst of the mass exodus of a few gunman, they didn't see it but could easily imagine zealous Lisia fans snagging some of her overpriced touring merchandise. Shirts, hats and several other clothing apparel for sale were strewn all over the floor and leaning over it, Hammond could see that some of the boxes with new products had been messily torn open and the entire contents of whatever was inside gone.

"Section one twenty is down there."

"Roger," Ash pointed to another set of stairs that went upwards above the section. "Hammond, take the executive suites and provide an overwatch. We may need a briefing on the hostiles before we strike."

"Got it." Hammond broke off from the group and jogged up the stairs.

The closest door to the one twenty section suites was shut and he quietly eased it open. Stepping through, he checked the left side, clearing out the main room before proceeding to the windows.

The entire center looked untouched from the takeover. All the concert equipment was untouched and no visible damage was seen. It might as well have been hours before it started.

However what caught his eye was down in the section where the hostiles had attacked.

There was nobody there.

"Boss, we got a situation."

"What kind of situation?"

"I have eyes over the section where the Syndicate reportedly took over. There's nobody."

"Breaching." Ash and Jewell entered from the section's walkway below a moment later and quickly gave the area a once-over. "Clear."

"Backstage is clear," Decker reported. "We've found Lisia and her bodyguard in the makeup room."

* * *

When the Specialists emerged from the main entrance, Ash waved an all clear. In response, the police and several hundred civilians began to clap, giving them a standing ovation.

Had he chosen any occupation except maybe a soldier, it would have been a welcome sight, instead he threw a hand up and jogged over to meet with the police captain.

"Nice work Specialist."

"I wish I could say the same," Ash's seriousness had put aside any of their confidence. "We have a problem. No sign of the Syndicate members or the hostages."

"How could they have gotten out? We had the entire place under surveillance even before the attack and pulled security footage didn't show them until they struck and then went backstage."

"They could have smuggled themselves in from the trucks and left in the same way." Jewell suggested.

"We would have seen them from cameras and it doesn't coincide with the times of the truck's arrival."

Ash sighed, "Lock the place down. Nobody gets in without mine or Lieutenant Decker's approval."

The police chief nodded, "You got it."

* * *

Lisia was quite a brave girl and pretty, he had noticed. She wore a sparkly blue dress with a short skirt and wavy turquoise hair with a very pretty tiara. Ash had only seen her on television once while being deployed and she had a very energetic personality that was easily infectious to even the most cynical person. Nevertheless, she maintained a cool composure even an hour after armed gunman stormed her concert. The event still shook her; the fact that people like that could gain easy access to harm people meant that celebrities could also be quite in danger.

"Lisia," Ash put his weapon down and sat on a concrete block opposite her, "My name's Ash Ketchum. I head the Specialized Urban Warfare Tactics group. We go after the most dangerous and elusive criminals against Hoenn. If I may, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure." Her voice was far from the usual excited one.

"First off had you had any enemies recently?"

"Not that I know of."

"I initially thought that maybe this was an attempt on your life," He added, "I see you're quite disappointed that your concert didn't go on as planned."

"It's frustrating," She sadly said, "Most of the beneficiaries for this one were going to go to the Petalburg Children's Hospital to those that have rare or incurable diseases. This event tonight was one I was really looking forward to."

"I'm sorry about that. Believe me, my team and I are going to get the people who did this and get those that they had just kidnapped back."

His words seemed to inspire a bit of confidence in the pop star and for once she had perked her head up. "I haven't had any threats against my life for years."

"That's good. Then maybe you were not the priority. Let's go back to before the attack. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary before the attack?"

"Yes I did." That got Ash a bit intrigued. Maybe she had an indirect key into how the Syndicate members had gotten in.

"I heard what sounded like an explosion. It wasn't very loud, but for a moment the studio shook like it was in the middle of an earthquake. I was about to head onstage and report it to security but then Freddie, my bodyguard had put me inside the closet, saying that men with guns had stormed the stage and that it wasn't safe for me out there. He stayed at the studio's entrance and then came to get me when two rescuers arrived."

"Those men were part of my team," Ash said, "Thank you so much for your help Lisia."

"I'm not sure what good it will do for you."

"Maybe it won't be," He shook her hand, "But it's a start right?"

Striding back to the van, he met the rest of his team, who each had been busy interviewing witnesses that had come forward to assist the authorities.

"Gear up guys, we're going back in."

"What why?" Brendan asked.

"We might have a reason why they weren't there."

* * *

Ash had to add water storage tank rooms to uncomfortable places to be.

He wasn't claustrophobic, but it was the fact that there were tons of awkward angles to clear through and any one of them could have a waiting tango to ambush.

Slipping the rifle on his back, he opted for his trusty handgun for its smaller size.

There were about six tanks in three rows, so he and Jewell stuck to one side while Decker, Arron and Hammond had the other. Most of the time, he was aiming his weapon in one direction, but quickly looked in the other in case of another lurking threat.

It wasn't long before they reached the back part of the storage room. However judging by Lisia's experience, this was the most likely place where intruders could have entered. Water storage was isolated from the rest of the facility while maintaining a close and easy access past all the security barriers.

A perfect place to stage an ambush.

"Did they smuggle themselves in a water tank or something?" Hammond asked.

"No," Ash replied, although his eyes were scanning the floor. "There was an explosion, so we need to look for debris."

"Not seeing anything."

Ash took another step and heard a grinding sound coming from his shoe. He looked down and swiped a finger across the concrete floor. Instead of no residue, his fingers collected a fine gray powder.

"Plastic explosives." He concluded after taking a whiff. They had used a lot to blow something up, but just enough to keep the building stable. A form was unstable enough to level the entire building, should it be placed correctly.

"That explains the explosion."

This time the Commando's gaze drifted to the water tank where more powder was sporadically placed. Underneath one of the water tanks.

The bulk moved with a slight difficulty, since it had been mostly empty. When he had shifted it on over, all five stared in complete shock at how the Syndicate had gotten in.

The crater had blasted a hold roughly three feet in diameter, revealing a pitch black hole.

* * *

Back at the congregation, the five specialists crowded around as one of the crime scene unit officers was processing a piece of paper. Arron had found sections of a phone number written on it and the message "Help me"

One of the hostages had managed to write a distress call as well as their phone number. Although water had gotten on the tiny slip of paper, a bit of delicate handling with a mobile crime lab was in the process of decrypting the evidence.

"They've gotten away with it." Ash said to the Army general on the other side of the conference. "These guys strategically made their entrance alerting next to nobody and took a full group hostage. They're not going to be found unless we do it first."

"Understood Lieutenant."

"Hey!" Jewell called over from the large blue van, "We got a hit!"

Ash and Brendan jogged over.

She laid out a dossier of a pretty girl with slightly blue hair and eyes, "The name and the phone number belongs to a Dawn Berlitz. She's a student at Broadstone University and according to her mother was excited about heading to this concert. Been a Lisia fan most her life. She lives by herself in an apartment complex in west Petalburg."

"Any reason why she was taken?" Ash asked.

"Not that we can tell, most of the people in attendance had the same background, so it could be random."

"Or not." Brendan said. He had been rather quiet after discovering the hole. "Look at the amount of people in comparison to the seats taken. Of course the front ones will be the most sought after, but the side that the hostages were taken was the closest one to their covert entrance. So it might not be random after all. Grab the max amount of people you can and then get outta dodge, same way you arrive in."

"Telling the cops not to come in was just a stall so that they could disappear." Zack added.

Jewell typed a few more commands into the computer, "Okay, got a hit. Dawn's phone just got responded with my emergency ping and it has been traced to the Southern Ocean, roughly twenty miles away from Littleroot."

"Good work Jewell." Ash gave her a pat on the shoulder before taking out his phone. He punched in a few numbers and held to up to his ear. "General, I think we've located the hostages. I'm going to need a bird fully fueled and flown to the Petalburg Events Center. We're going after them…..Just get me the damn bird! Every minute we waste arguing here is another minute the hostages have until they're tortured, assaulted or killed. I don't care if I have to fly it myself, I have certifications for the two heavyweight classes anyway….Yes, understood General. Okay, Ketchum out."

Arron, Hammond and Brendan were all congregated around when Ash had walked up to them, "Helo's going to be here in ten. Grab whatever extra gear you need for expecting dozens of hostiles. If you're running low on sleep, the flight's the time to grab it."

Both Zack and Damien scoffed, "Sleep…who needs sleep anyway when you can rescue hostages?"

* * *

 **Raise your hand if you want an epic rescue scene next chapter. That's what I thought.**

 **Now a lot of the future chapters in this story will be having some M rated moments, including the next one. I just thought I would give proper warning, but I imagine everyone here reading will be able to handle such things. Right?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	10. Chapter 10

On Hoenn's south coast, the small college town of Dewford and the large city of Slateport were the bottommost ports for ships traveling from further south.

Winter time cooled the oceans, but even through fall it remained warm enough to enjoy swimming, water skiing and several other oceanic sports. The larger ports of Lilycove and Ever Grande City were the only other coastal city with an active shipyard, but constant strong currents on the eastern waters often caused ships to use Slateport or otherwise take a detour.

In between the two cities was a large derelict structure that rose out of the ground. Known formerly as the Sea Mauville, it was originally a research platform that was purposed for extracting natural ocean resources. The facility was commissioned by Greater Mauville Holdings. It ran for a few years before the widely publicized incidents had caused the company to abandon its work there.

Now it was a neglected place. What remained of the structure had deteriorated seriously to the point that the entire area would collapse into the sea.

The Cacturne Syndicate now occupied most of the area, using it as one of their secret hideouts to plan, hide and execute their illegitimate operations.

* * *

May continued to struggle against the two men that were trying to drag her down the corridor. She had a large cloth bag over her head and no idea where she was going. Nevertheless, they were trying to move her forward, so she therefore resisted towards her six o'clock.

The air smelled musty and it only seemed to get worse the farther inside they took her. Ever since they were all restrained, she hadn't seen Dawn or anyone else that attended the concert in her section.

Ever since she had shown an interest in traveling, her parents had always told her to stay safe, especially in foreign regions. Reading novels about unwary travelers heading into faraway places like Kalos only to get scammed or imprisoned always hung at the back of her mind, even on her trip in her sophomore year of college. Anything was open to happening, but never in her wildest dreams did she expect to get kidnapped in her home town.

"C'mon, get in the room!" One of the men said in a frustrating manner. May continued to put up a fight.

"Arceus, this kid is strong!" She felt something hard hit her in the back, causing her body to fall forward. The sound of a door closing was heard before she had a chance to get up. Moments later, one of them was slipping a lock on the other end.

May slowly reached up and pulled the bag off her head. Dim light from a single bulb cast a golden glow around the "cell" with the area of a closet and she had to resist the urge to gag or vomit after smelling the familiar stench of mold. It was probably a good thing that the light prevented a detailed look from the top. Dark patches of the black fungus were visible at the top and a small space had moonlight coming through that allowed air to circulate and prevent the occupant from becoming sick.

The sound of shuffling feet had brought her back to the present as the lock on her door clicked and the heavy metal door swung open.

For a moment, May contemplated trying to knock out her attacker. Her mother had enrolled her in a self-defense class when she was in middle school and she still remembered a few of its techniques.

The sight of the black colored assault rifle the an entering the room carried threw all of that ideas out the tiny window.

He was dressed in brown fatigues and wore a tactical mask that allowed him to breathe through dangerous gases without being harmed.

The second man is what caught her attention.

He was dressed in an expensive black business suit with a green tie and had purplish dyed hair that fell to his shoulders. For a place so ram shackled as this, he stuck out for miles around.

May shrink against the back of her cell as if she could escape the bad men's gaze.

"You really think that's going to work?" The suit man asked. His voice was muffled by the mask before he shared a laugh with his partner.

He strode up to May and knelt down in front of her. "My name is Harley, I lead the Cacturne Syndicate. What is your name dear?"

Reaching out, his fingers began to brush May's arm. In response, she yanked it away.

"Don't touch me." She firmly said, however the command sounded forced.

Harley grabbed her arm again, this time more forcefully and began to stroke her skin. She again tried to resist, but the partner sensed her intention and moved so that the FAL assault rifle in his hands was pointed in her direction. His stance was still casual, so he didn't directly aim it at her.

"Such silky smooth skin," The Syndicate Leader purred. May looked up and saw lust burning in his eyes as he examined her like a fine cut of meat. It was for a moment before they reverted back to their empty emerald voids, free of emotion. He enjoyed watching fear swim through her eyes. "Both you and your friend there are quite feisty. While she is definitely a pretty one," He leaned closer, "You are a much more valuable prize."

"Whatever you're going to do to me," May defiantly said, "It's not going to happen. Is this what you do? Attack innocent people in public and sell them to sex trafficking markets?! How do you live with that? Knowing that girls that had nothing to do with you are being humiliated because you want to make quick cash in!"

For a moment May thought she had him on a backpedal. It quickly turned out that he was enraged by her comment by rubbing his temple and then looking at her angrily. "Tell me," Harley reached down in his pocket, gritting his teeth. "Your parents are two very rich people. How much do you think they will pay for me to deliver you back?"

"You can't do this!" May pleaded, "You're a monster!"

"You being scared makes it all the better." He chuckled, pulling his hand out of his pocket to reveal a glint of a wickedly curved knife with a shiny silver blade. "They pay me my price for you safety and I will let both you and your gorgeous friend go. If they cry that it is a ridiculous price, know this; someone out there will pay more for you as a lifelong companion."

"No! Please!"

Harley put the knife against her left shoulder and she fought the urge to whimper. The cold steel was digging harshly into her skin, but he would not have the pleasurable moment of having his prey defy him. She would make sure of it.

He swiped the knife off her shoulder, causing her to gasp and look down. Strangely, he had not drawn any blood, but a lock of her hair had been sliced off. He now held that lock in his hand and slipped it inside a small plastic bag before placing it inside his pocket.

More footsteps sounded down the hall as another man came in. Harley turned around and the two quietly conversed before he was dismissed as well.

"Looks like your friends came onto our trail quicker than I had expected." He leered at May again, "Don't go anywhere baby."

With that he left the room with the guard in tow. The door was locked a moment later, leaving May all alone once again.

* * *

Captain Avery Gibson was a rather short man. At five foot six, he sported a pilot's moustache with a few wrinkles around jovial brown eyes. Ash towered more than a full head above him. However, his flying skills were nevertheless impressive.

Their aircraft, a SBH-18 Pelipper was the standard service helo for utility purposes in Hoenn's military. It was manufactured by Fortree based Skybank Aircraft that was responsible for producing aircraft that were commonly seen in the country in commercial, private and military.

The sixty five foot aircraft was capable of carrying up to fifteen fully armed soldiers and boasted among one of the most maneuverable capabilities of any transport helo.

Gibson was a total chatterbox when Ash climbed into the co-pilot's seat, rambling about his family. Overall, he was quite an interesting person, although right now the Urban Warfare Specialist wasn't really in the mood to talk. That didn't stop him from engaging in the conversation.

Back in the main cabin, the other four members were doing a second check of their gear. It was now just past five in the morning and they had briefly caught a power nap before getting themselves together for another active engagement.

When it came closer to their destination, Avery fell silent as Ash laid out the details of their plan of attack. He finished before stepping out and into the main cabin.

"Alright guys, this place was a former research laboratory that was decommissioned and abandoned since. I've got the schematics and believe that the hostages have been confined to isolation from one another, which means the storage areas on the mid-deck are our likely spots. We're inserting on the top and making our way down." He accepted the G3KA4 rifle from Brendan, "Everyone keep your eyes peeled. It's going to be dark out there and we have no idea how many we're going to be up against."

"You got it." Zack and Damien said at the same time. Next to the latter, Jewell was fitting a telescopic scope onto an M21 Designated Marksman Rifle. She was going to cover them while Avery would provide an extra pair of eyes to hostiles reacting to the helo's approach.

"Twenty seconds." The pilot called out.

"Last one back onboard buys the cold beer when we're done." Ash grinned as he threw open the door. Immediately, he was greeted by the sound of the droning rotors and wind pressing against his body.

"Ten seconds."

By now, they could see the Sea Mauville leaning on its stern and the bow tilted at a slight angle. From the lights the Pellipper shone on its hull, a lot of it was faded paint, replaced by the brown eczema of rust.

Ten seconds had elapsed as Ash flicked out the spool of rope that spun from the side winch of the helo. His gloves snagged on and he slid down sixty feet to the top deck.

Un-slinging the carbine from his back, he did a brief check of the area as the other three made their descent. Avery made sure all of them had successfully made it before reeling in the rope and flying off, sparing them from the powerful effects of the rotors.

The four of them donned binocular blue lensed night vision optics, secured to their head by a band and compatible with the electronic reflex sight mounted on their rifles. In addition, the side of their barrels had a laser pointer to paint targets.

"Okay, spread out, but don't go too far." Ash said, "They probably know we're here already, so we'll have to take it nice and slow. The Navy has a corvette inbound within fifteen minutes with reinforcements. Zack, how are we on the signal?"

"Reading a hundred meters directly ahead."

"Jewell scope it out."

"Standby…It's all clear boss, you boys can move up."

Ash was on point as they briskly advanced, shifting their aim constantly as they continued to watch different vectors.

As Avery steadied the helo again for Jewell to observe, she pinpointed the phone in the far area by the staircase where a few barrels were stacked. Something seemed off.

"Hang on," Her next sentence was cut off as somewhere a gunshot sounded and it caught one of the barrels aflame.

"GET DOWN!" Ash pushed Damien out of the way just as the group of barrels exploded in a brilliant orange fireball.

"Ambush!"

All at once, the far end poured a half dozen men who laid down sheets off bullets to where the Specialists were holed up.

"Damn it," Jewell cursed, it was a trap. She angled her scope on the first tango and pulled the trigger. Easily countering the kick, she didn't wait to see what it did before centering on the second man and sealing his fate.

The Jets had recovered quickly and found parts of the wall to hide behind. Arron took a potshot, which caught the attention of the remaining guys, still a bit unaware that two of their own were dead.

Signaling Hammond and Decker to cover him, Ash ducked from view and moved up to their left.

The fire had disoriented both parties, as they tried to get better angles at their opponents.

Rounding the corner, Ketchum ran almost into a Syndicate hitman. Reacting first, he slammed the stock of his rifle into his stomach and then grabbed the back of his head while he doubled over from the pain. A slam into the side of the wall knocked out the bad guy.

Firing his assault rifle, Ash eliminated the remainder. "All clear."

"Close call there." Brendan said as they headed over.

"Moving down one deck." Ash started forward.

It all happened in a blur. Right in front of him another burly gunman stepped out from heading up the stairs. He held a stubby sawed off pump shotgun aimed squarely at his chest.

At this close of a range, one bullet would instantly turn him into ground meat.

In a timely manner, from above, a perfectly aimed sniper bullet whizzed past his shoulder and bored through the man's neck. The grisly scene caused blood to plume out of the opening and packed enough kinetic energy to knock him back down to the bottom of the stairs.

"That's one more you owe me. Regardless if you're last." Jewell's voice through the headset was cold and precise.

"Thanks for the assist Jewell and it would be my pleasure."

"I got your back boss man, but a heads up; you're going downstairs so my coverage won't be very good. I'll still try my best."

"Got it." Ash nodded to the other three, "Let's move."

* * *

Dawn knew something was up when a pair of guards showed up inside her cell and locked it. For a split second she feared that she was going to be a victim of sexual assault, but judging by the worried actions of the two men, that was the least of their concern.

One of them went close to her, "Hold still beautiful. If I have to shoot you, at least it won't be anywhere near that sexy ass body."

Dawn spat in his face.

"Bitch!" The man wiped the slime off his face, flipped a pistol on his hand, ready to whip her.

The door suddenly shook before it was kicked open. Standing in the threshold was a dark clothed man with a black vest. A pair of blue lights looked as if it was his eyes and his weapon shone a single tiny red dot on the unsuspecting hitman.

The silenced gun coughed twice, drilling holes inside the first guy before he moved his gun on the second one, giving him a similar fate.

Dawn could only stare wide-eyed at her savior who looked just as fearful as her kidnappers, but to her surprise, the man extended a hand out, a universal gesture that he meant no harm.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"Urban Warfare Specialist Decker, we're here to rescue you." The hand still extended, she took it and he pulled it up with surprising strength. "Hostage number nineteen secure. Still locating number twenty. You guys were right; some of them are being more heavily guarded than others."

Then both of them heard a scream from further down the hall. It was a woman's and there was no mistaking the terror in it.

"May," Dawn gasped.

* * *

Ash was continuing to scan the cells for the final two hostages. Over the course of five minutes, they had been found isolated from one another, but as they went further along the side, the farther apart and the more enemies were present. Ash had exhausted his entire carbine's ammunition when he got into an intense gunfight with four hostiles. They had cast a smokescreen to hinder his vision while blindly firing themselves in hopes that he would be hit. Once he had killed all four of them, he tried their weapons, but none of them were loaded. That left his pistol, with two full supply of ammo.

"Hostage number nineteen secure." Brendan Decker reported through the comms, "Still locating number twenty. You guys were right; some of them are being more heavily guarded than others."

A scream came from up ahead and Ash's veins suddenly jumped into overdrive. A similar scenario was when the Federation had troops in Unova and his Commando unit had made a bust on an underground trafficking trade. One of the young girls that was probably sixteen was about to be assaulted had it not been for his timely intervention.

Moving briskly, he kept his eyes on the other cells, even when he had already zeroed in on the one three doors to his right.

Stacking up, he wasted no time in shooting off the lock and throwing the door open with his right foot.

The final hostage was pinned against the wall with one of the men assigned to guard her at her throat with a tiny knife.

The second man had heard the shot and was in the midst of raising his rifle at the intruder. As he did, his partner had noticed the commotion and took his eyes off the helpless brunette.

Ash easily evaded the rifle as it was swung dangerously close and used his right elbow to drive a powerful blow in his stomach. To his surprise, he had recovered quickly and swung an electric punch, aimed at his nose. That was also narrowly avoided.

May was completely caught off guard when the newcomer grabbed the outstretched guard's arm and twisted it, getting a painful howl from the man. He finished him off with a punch to the nose and a second one to the neck.

The other man had lunged forward a moment later, slashing the knife like a ferocious Zangoose. The first stroke had struck his side, ripping open Ash's shirt. The attack sliced open his skin and pain suddenly flared through his body as if the knife had been made of lava.

He managed to disorient him by a lucky knee to his ribs and just in time managed to put a hand on the baddie's forearm just as he was in a stabbing motion. Then, controlling the action, the knife hit the wall, embedding itself inside.

Not letting up, Ash grabbed the side of his head and drove a powerful right hook and followed it with twin hammerfist strikes to the throat. The man went limp upon the second hit and went out like a light.

May backed further to the wall as Ash slowly approached. He held out his left hand in a nonthreatening manner. She had stopped screaming once he had made himself known, but the fear hadn't erased itself yet. She had no idea how to make out this new character, but a part in her mind said that he was not here to hurt her like the others.

"Hostage number twenty secure. Got all of them." He reached down, "Urban Warfare Specialist. Don't worry, I'm a friend. I'm here to get you out."

The girl nodded, but still kept shaking. She must've gone through a lot in the last ten hours. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Come on." His hand was still outstretched, so she took it. "Let's get out of here."

He pointed down the hall, "Head down that way and you'll find a staircase. At the top is the rest of my team and they're going to take you home."

May's eyes widened, "No!"

Ash was taken aback by her outburst, but he stopped. "Please don't!" She begged, "I want to stay with you."

"I might be running into more hostiles."

"I don't want to be alone," Tears began to sting her eyes. Normally if she had Dawn, things would be fine, but the presence of this Urban Warfare guy was strangely a comfort that she did not want to go away. The thought of him being endangered again after rescuing her was a lot to bear. "Please don't leave me." She repeated.

The Commando nodded, aware that she might start to get borderline hysterical, "Alright. Come this way. Stay behind me."

They made their way back down where Ash had come when he keyed his earpiece, "I got the final hostage. We're going to be topside in fifty."

"Hold off on that boss!" Damien Hammond sounded a bit worried, "We got our ass up here pinned by ten plus!"

"Avery's hit!" Jewell cried, "Avery's been hit!"

"Shit!"

The following explosion came without warning, a low bass sound that rumbled through all directions at once.

* * *

 **So here is the chapter that all you Advanceshippers have been waiting for! May and Ash have finally met one another, although it's not under pleasant circumstances. Now the fic is starting to pick up the pace and a whole lot of things are about to change!**

 **Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	11. Chapter 11

May had been standing next to Ash for one moment; the next had her lying on the floor with the entire place shaking as if it was struck by an earthquake. She curled up in a fetal position and fought the urge to scream.

"We have to go NOW!" Ash yanked her to her feet and took off down the corridor. He never took his hand off hers.

The explosion had caused the entire staircase to collapse and that was his primary exit.

"There's no way out from topside, this place is going to be gone in minutes."

"Is there another way out?" May asked worriedly.

"Better hope so. I can hear the lower part of the place flooding already."

* * *

Hammond and Jewell had taken over flying the helo as Zack Arron tended to Avery's wound. Two rounds had went through his chest cavity and he was beginning to lose a lot of blood. The bright red fluid stained his hands as he continued to apply dressings and try to close off the breach in his artery.

Instead of attempting to fly back to base, they made headway towards the corvette _Lawgiver_ who was already informed by the new pilots about the injured. They already had a medical team on standby and the helipad clear for landing.

Ash had told them not to wait for him and the last hostage. At least he could play in the survival of them both, but extraction by air was now not possible.

* * *

"This way." He tugged her arm and moved back into the room where he rescued her.

"What are you doing?" She asked, a bit curious to see him rummaging through the pockets of the man that had the rifle.

Ash smiled with satisfaction and held an extra box magazine of rounds. He checked the weapon over, also having a full magazine. "Perfect."

"What's that?" Although she knew it clearly was a gun, he might have interpreted it differently.

"Our ticket out of here."

He motioned for her to stand back and then began to strike the wall with the stock. The stock easily demolished the rotting wood and revealed a plastered metallic covering.

May felt something wet on her foot and turned around. The water had reached their deck and had already begun to grow deeper. It climbed up to her ankles within a few seconds.

"Water's coming up!"

"Stand back," He raised the weapon and fired, fully automatic against the metal. The gunshots echoed in the small confines of the room and caused May to cover her ears. Much to his delight, the bullets punched straight through in a full circle about a foot and a half in diameter.

He slapped the second magazine inside, yanked the arming handle and repeated the process. By now, the level had risen just below their knees.

"Come on," He reared back his foot and kicked at the part. The bullet holes had pierced straight through, weakening that section of the wall so that his foot could gouge an opening big enough for them to squeeze through. He could see the outside deck on the other side and the water beginning to rise there as well.

The third time he struck out at it, a large part finally gave through and he used the unloaded gun to smash away additional sections. By now it looked just large enough for him to go through. The girl was smaller than him and with his help, she would be out easily.

"Alright, you're going to have to squeeze your way through."

He was impressed at how she had somewhat kept from panicking after her assailants were dead, but she still was breathing shallow and rapidly and well aware that they were not out of the woods yet.

"Okay." She whispered.

Ash knelt down on one knee and used his propped one to give her a boost up since it was a little taller than him. She nearly scraped her hands on the sharp edges of the side, but found a smoother one almost immediately. With that, she pulled herself through and landed on the other side. Her back was going to be bruised, but she was still alive and out of the more dangerous section.

Moments later, Ash gripped the edge of the hole before hauling himself across. His land on the ground was much more graceful, being able to move his feet so he stayed on balance.

"What now?" May asked.

"We gotta get off this sinking tub," Ash went over the railing. "Can you swim?"

"Yes, but there's a lot of Sharpedos here"

"Okay, I know it's going to be tough, but you need to remain strong got it? Just don't splash and if you see a Sharpedo, don't provoke or draw its attention. They'll leave you alone if you do the same." Ash tried his best to soothe her, but she was right. This part of Hoenn was a frequent hangout place for hungry Sharpedos. He let go of the railing and did a perfect dive into the water that would've made any Olympian swimmer proud. Upon emerging, he winced, feeling a familiar stinging as the salt water attacked his open cut.

May nodded before she jumped down to meet him. She emerged, coughing a bit of seawater up before she realized that her clothes were inducing a lot of drag on her. It felt as if she was submerged in jelly and she knew that trying to stay above the water level would only sap more strength.

A powerful arm wrapped around her waist, "Don't struggle." Ash calmly said, treading water. "Just relax and let me swim us." Using his free hand and legs, he eased away from the sinking platform.

The water felt lukewarm as the two continued to slowly gain some distance from the ocean's newest victim.

"Where are we headed?"

"I see a sandbar with some trees about a quarter mile away. The faster we can get on dry land, the better." He looked down at her, "You never told me your name."

"May. May Maple."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you May, I'm Ash Ketchum."

Ash finally gripped the sand at the bottom of his feet after about ten minutes of swimming and he stood up. May continued to relax in his arms. As much as he wanted to enjoy the peaceful sight of the girl in his arms, he noticed more swells incoming.

"C'mon, we gotta get up on dry land. Another wave could wash was back in the water."

They both waded onto the beach and looked up. Craggy cliffs jutted just above the sand, roughly ten feet in height. If they wanted to get rescued, both would have to get to as much high ground as possible.

"Okay," He took a deep breath, "I'm going to take a look around and see if we can find an easy way up."

"No!" May protested, grabbing his arm, "Please. You said you wouldn't leave me."

"I won't ever leave you." Ash began to see the effects of what had happened in the past few hours. They had seriously taken their toll on her. "I'm a soldier, so therefore it's my duty not to leave someone behind. Look, I'll be just within earshot. If something happens, just call for me and I'll be back here within five seconds."

May couldn't argue, so she silently agreed.

"I will be right back," Ash tried to smile to ease the tension, but the ordeal had taken its toll on him as well. He turned around to begin looking, but not before May noticed him examining the cut on his side.

A minute later Ash returned, "There's a leveled part of the cliffs just around that bend. We can get up there, but you're going to need to partially pull yourself up."

When May didn't respond, he knelt down next to her, "May, I know you're tired. I know you're hungry; it's something I know very well. However if we're both going to return home, we have to do this."

"Will you be able to carry me?"

"I once had to carry our team's sniper, who is almost double my weight for two miles through enemy territory." Ash beckoned for her and squatted down, "You probably won't be much heavier than the backpacks I had to carry during training."

May headed over and wrapped her legs around his backside. He felt warm and wet at the same time.

"Loop your arms through mine," Ash instructed, "You feel yourself slipping, tighten your leg grip around my waist."

She felt him start to move and looked over his shoulder; his height was easily six foot three, a full head above her and it was a bit odd seeing the world just from a little higher up. This stranger was able to effortlessly carry her, yet his strength also felt..gentle.

He stopped at the rock wall for a moment before starting up the side. May felt his arm muscles tighten and his body shift frequently. She continued to hold on, not daring to look down and quietly thanking Arceus that he was unable to see her blushing face.

"Do you live in Petalburg May?" Ash asked, using small talk to help keep her mind off the situation, as he reached out to grab a large outcropping to haul the two of them up. May was surprised to hear that he was not panting at all, his breathing was still regular.

"Yes, I was born there."

"Okay, that's good. You doing okay?"

"I should be asking you that." May replied, "You're not even tired?"

"Well, maybe a little."

"Really? Are you in the Hoenn Army?"

Ash shook his head as they now were about ten feet off the ground with maybe five left. "Actually I'm a Commando from the Kanto-Johto Federation."

May's heart skipped a beat. Her thoughts went to her project in International Relations, but also to Commandos. From what she had read about them, they were one of the most feared and respected soldiers to ever enter the battlefield. There was an old legend associated with them that one Commando was tough enough to take on almost any platoon of other soldiers from anywhere else on the globe. That meant he was a hardened veteran on a warfront and possessed enough skill and power to effortlessly bring down just about any foe.

The two of them had finally made it to the top. Ash had given her a boost so that she wouldn't be a burden on his drive before he scrambled up the side. She was amazed at his swift and nimble movements; not only was he strong, he was practically a Greninja.

He smiled to himself, more than confident that he was still more than capable of carrying Brock for those two miles. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," She breathed, sitting down and putting her knees to her chest. "Kind of cold."

"Let me see if I can get a fire going." Ash started towards the thicket of trees when May stopped him. She placed her face right in his chest and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you…for not leaving me. I would not be the same had you come to my rescue. My father will pay you handsomely for my return."

Ash had experienced close relationships with women, save for his mother, but looking at May, he found her to be quite attractive. At first, he expected her to be, but not in the way she actually came out to be. Her wet long brown hair clung to her neck, she had deep blue eyes and a flawless complexion. There was no doubt had they been at a dance, she would be able to level just about any man.

Over the course of a few minutes, he began to gather several sticks and cleared a small area.

"Are you going to rub two sticks together?"

He chuckled, "Nah, I have a flint knife. Haven't had to rub them together in years."

Striking the edge rapidly with his folding knife, the tinder caught with a couple glowing embers. He grabbed it and lifted it above his head, blowing onto them. They glowed brightly and smoke began to curl from the top.

Ash held out in front of him as the smoke began to get thicker. Within five seconds, the entire ball of tinder was starting to burn, with a tiny orange flame. Working quickly, he shoved it in the middle of the wood pile. The dead branches ignited quickly, as if they had been doused with gasoline.

"Oh my!" May gasped at how quickly and skillfully he made it, "You are a Commando after all."

"That was a lesson from wilderness survival one oh one."

They both laughed at his joke. For a moment, May felt herself much more relaxed, a lot ever since before she had went to the concert.

"How long do you think we will be here?" She scooted closer to him as he sat on a rock, folding his knife back into his gear.

"Rest of my team's out there looking for me and we have a Navy ship nearby. I'll be surprised if we're here for another couple hours."

May knew that could be completely false, but judging by his expression, he was rather confident. Ash definitely had a way of putting people at ease. On the other hand, he couldn't get the nagging feeling that she was seeing someone. She wasn't married, as there was no ring on her finger, but then again while being abducted by the Syndicate, they could have taken it from her possession.

"Do you have a family May?"

"I live with my father and little brother Max. My mother and father separated when I was twelve."

"Do you keep in touch with her."

"When I have time. She lives in Littleroot."

"Anyone else?"

"Drew…sort of. He's my boyfriend and works a lot with my dad."

The fact she was already dating wasn't a surprise to him. On the other hand, he thought whoever this Drew guy might be, got very lucky or was blessed. "Well, think of how happy both your family and Drew will be to hear that you're safe again."

May almost groaned, "They're probably hysterical out of their minds." Both her father and Drew were like helicopters, hovering nearby, keeping watch over her as if they were the only things guarding her from threats. They felt as if she needed safety and protection, when that's all she had ever experienced. Max wasn't raised like that. He was a boy and found interest in football, something that her father disapproved of, but also felt like he was more capable of taking care of himself.

"You make it sound like a burden,"

"That's because it is," May suddenly got a little defensive, "My father is quite protective of me and Drew pretty much follows by example. For all these years, it gets repetitive. I'm tired of living in this strange world."

"Then change your world." Ash flatly stated.

"Easy for you to say. My father can be hard to separate from."

"No," He said, "Both your dad and Drew can't run your life for you. It could be the money that is hard to break away from."

"Really?!" She was getting angry, "My brother doesn't even need my father's protectiveness. It's always with me! Everybody else sees me like I'm a spoiled rich child who needs protection from everything! It's not a disability!"

"Then why do you treat it like one?"

"You don't know my life! It might be easy for you to grow up and judge, but you live like how I do and then judge me!"

Ash sighed, "May, I'm not judging you. I fully believe that anyone can do whatever they want as long as they have the correct mindset. Even if it's a completely absurd or obsolete idea, it's the thought that counts. I also believe you that in the terms of your father and Drew hold you back, but they're not completely to blame."

"What?" She had calmed considerably and looked over at him. Ash felt a stab of regret when tears began to brim in her eyes.

"I hear about how you want to break away from your father and his money, but I think that you are your own worst enemy. You tell me how much you dislike how they control you, but then I give you encouragement and advice, you then come up with excuses on how it won't work. Are you free from them here?" He pointed to her before tapping two fingers on his temple, "But I think you're actually trapped here. You're not a slave May, he can't dictate what you can and can't do."

May let the tears fall. Her mother had been always supportive of her and fending for herself, but her father was always the protective one and he brought Drew onto the bandwagon. Ever since, she had seldom voiced her opinion since he had final say in matters, but her stance on May's well-being had never changed, even after they separated.

Nobody else saw her in that type of light except Dawn and now this strange Commando from the Federation.

"Listen," Ash leaned forward, casting a dull orange glow from the fire on his front, "I'm really sorry about that. I had no right to do that to you."

"Don't be. You sounded just like my mother and those are words that I have never heard for in a long time. I-"

He had cut her off by holding up a hand, "Hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The sound of rotors began to grow stronger. As he squinted in the distance, he saw one of the stars begin to move and another light blink, "It's a helo!"

Excitement began to flow through May as Ash grabbed a few more sticks and threw them onto the fire. The wood hit the flames and sent a big spray of embers into the sky. Whoever was piloting the chopper saw the fire and homed right in their direction.

Both Ash and May cheered as it moved closer to them. She was unable to contain the relief and excitement not only of their rescue, but the fact that maybe this Commando had finally decided to spur a brand new chapter into her life. Out of pure joy, she flung her arms around him and hugged as tightly as she could.

Ash waved as he was bathed in the spotlight, "It's the Navy! You did great May! You're gonna go home!"

* * *

 **Wow, this chapter was hella fun to write. I know all you Advanceshippers were anxiously waiting for the two of them to finally meet and talk to one another and it's happened! Hope y'all enjoyed it and there is plenty more to come!**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	12. Chapter 12

May's eyes fluttered open to the sound of constant beeping from a machine. She turned her head around to see a heart monitor and an IV linked into her arm.

At the end of the hospital room was a tall slim man dressed in a casual business outfit with black slacks and a white shirt with a red tie. He had black hair and piercing gray eyes that could pass as benevolent or intimidating, whichever was needed.

"Dad," May tried to say, but it came out as a croak. She felt her tongue and vainly tried to move it. It was stuck like glue to the roof of her mouth.

"Hey sweetie," Norman Maple greeted, giving her a kiss on the forehead, "You're awake. The Navy flew you back; you're now in Wagner Naval Hospital."

He reached down and put a cup with a straw to her lips. The water she sipped felt as if it was a first rain on a desert. She drank greedily, as it washed away the thick coating and sluiced its way down.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," May was about to ask about Ash when the door opened and a boy, about seventeen years old came into the room and embraced her.

"May, holy crap. I thought I lost you."

"Don't worry Max," She cheerfully played it off, "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Of course not!" Max rolled his eyes behind the wire rimmed eyeglasses, "I wouldn't want you to miss out on my games!"

"Games?"

"Max got called by Coach Baldwin to try out for the starting quarterback." Norman proudly said, although May detected the slightest undertone of him flaunting her younger brother's newest accomplishment over hers. "If he impresses them, he could start as early as the summer training camp."

"That's great news!" She looked around, "Where's Ash?" The last time she saw him was when they were separated on stretchers to be wheeled into the medical wing after the Navy helicopter flew them onto the corvette.

"He's out of surgery and doing okay."

"Surgery?" May cried, "Oh Arceus, what happened?"

"He was stabbed and it required several stitches."

"He barely paid attention to it," She suddenly felt stiff, "He carried me up those cliffs and swam us to shore all while having been stabbed."

"May, what are you talking about?"

"Can I see him?"

Norman shook his head while gesturing for Max to leave. "That is not going to happen. He is speaking with the doctors right now."

May was about to ask where Dawn was, but held her tongue, as her father was not very fond of her. "Please. He saved my life."

The owner of the Maple Software Firm realized that he was not going to win this argument and sighed, "If the doctor says that you can move. You can visit him."

He left the room without another word and returned in twenty seconds.

"Alright, doctor said it was fine. Come on."

May removed the IV and gently eased herself off the bed and took Norman's hand, struggling to stand at first, but eventually had regained her balance.

It was definitely odd seeing a man in business clothes escorting a woman in a hospital gown down the aisles of the ward, but none of the Navy nurses or medical staff seemed to mind.

They stopped two rooms down where Ash was talking to both a nurse and another man about his height with dark brown hair. He wore the same fatigues as when the former had when he rescued May and looked rather tired himself.

Ash wore a clean white gown and had his head against the wall. His eyes were shut as he spoke, but it was always a bit of a frown. Something was bothering him and he was not happy about it.

May glanced up at her father before she slowly turned the knob to the door and made her way inside.

He noticed the door opening and closing and opened his eyes.

"See?" Norman put a hand on his daughter's shoulder, "He's perfectly fine. Now let's get back to your room."

"No, something's wrong with him." She looked over at him as well as the two that Ash were speaking to, "Can I speak with him in private?"

Ash had caught on to their conversation and looked over at her, "Damien, mind if we could have a little privacy?"

"Sure thing," Hammond put a hand on the nurse's shoulder and escorted her outside. Norman gave Ash another curious look before kissing May's forehead. While the Lieutenant had given a vibe that he didn't necessarily like, he was still quite grateful that he was responsible for his daughter's rescue, "I'll be in the restroom. Be right back."

May made sure that she and Ash were alone before she sat on the bed. He was younger than she had expected, previously envisioning him in his early thirties, but instead he looked maybe twenty-four or twenty five. However, he had moved and acted with the confidence of someone twice his age. "Hi Lieutenant."

"Miss Maple." The reply was curt and a bit chilly, "Feeling okay?"

"Yes thank you." She looked at him in concern, "What about everyone else?"

"All the hostages from the concert were rescued. So far, they are all unharmed."

"How come you didn't tell me?"

"Tell you about what?"

"The stab wound!"

"May, you were seconds away from possibly being raped, in panic when the explosion happened and had a lot to take in the last few hours back there. I wanted you to focus on your own safety and well-being and let me take care of myself." He gave her a small smile, his cold demeanor melting away, "Besides, it's nothing I haven't suffered before."

"Then what has you so down?"

Ash was back to his distant self, silent for a few moments, but when he spoke, he had lost all the fire in his words, "The helicopter pilot, Captain Gibson, who was going to extract us was shot three times while we were getting you out. After hours of internal bleeding and unsuccessful surgery, he didn't make it."

Now May realized that Ash had paid nearly no attention to the almost trivial stab wound trying to rescue her and the others. The attempt had cost someone their life.

"I'm sorry," May lowered her head. "I shouldn't have,"

"May it's fine," Ash dismissed it with a wave, but it had still deprived him of morale. He rubbed his temples with his free hand. Before he had a chance to continue, they heard the door snick open.

"Dad," She started, already knowing who it was, "This is Ash. He is the man who saved my life. Ash, this is my father, Norman."

"Mister Maple," Ash grunted as he tried to sit up and extended a hand.

"Lieutenant, take it easy. You've been through quite a lot." He still shook his hand, taken a bit aback by his appearance. Ash had a rugged look that made him quite an attractive person, almost as if he was an actor stepping off a movie set. "Thank you so much for what you did for May here. I have no idea how I can repay you."

"You don't have to sir," Ash shot May a knowing grin, "All I did was take care of the bad guys. May escaped with me and got back mostly on her own." He noticed that she reached up to scratch her head in embarrassment. "May, you're one tough lady. As much as a soldier you were last night, I would not like to see you back on the field. Understood?"

"Yes," She couldn't help but giggle a little bit. The notion did not go unnoticed by her father.

"May, how about we give Ash some time to unwind?" He looked over at him, "Please let me know if you need anything."

As they walked out, Ash quietly wished that it was only Norman who would have left.

* * *

May kept pace with her father as they headed to the desk to sign papers, clearing their release.

"Hey dad?"

"Yes dear?"

"I want to do something for the family of the pilot who died."

"Of course," Norman said, "That would be very thoughtful."

"No, I don't mean like a big check, how about we see what charities the family was involved in and actively contribute."

"Don't see why not." He was still a bit puzzled on why she was speaking so passionately. Shouldn't she be seeking comfort instead of wanting to jump back out into the world?

"And I want to get my own place soon."

That didn't bode well with him. "May, you can't be serious! You can hardly take care of yourself!"

"You haven't even let me try to!" She protested, "I've constantly asked for one chance so I can prove that I don't need either yours or Drew's protection and can handle things on my own!"

Norman was about to scold her, but held his tongue, partially remembering what she had to go through over the last full day, "May, I understand that you've been through a lot over yesterday, but I'm not fully confident in your abilities just yet. How about you take some time off of classes, relax a bit before you finish your degree and we can discuss things from there?"

Before May could reply, the door to the hospital entrance opened and a man just shy of six feet tall with a slim build walked in. He wore casual jeans with a black shirt underneath a light purple jacket. Upon seeing May, he quickly made his way over to them.

"May, thank Arceus, you're okay." He gave her a chaste kiss.

"Thanks Drew," She couldn't help but blush. It deepened when he gestured to her side and she saw that he had inserted a red rose in her pocket.

Norman, seeing the two together breathed a sigh of relief, "Drew, I'm going back to my house to get a few extra things before we head out. Just make sure you get to the airport on time. The plane's leaving at three in the afternoon. Get May's stuff too."

"We're leaving?" She asked, "Where?"

"To Unova," Drew answered for her, "Norman and I have to go for business tomorrow on one of the largest investments in two years. Why don't you come with us? I've heard that Castelia has some great places we can go out to dinner when I'm done. I already called your professors at Broadstone and they've agreed to postpone your assignments until you're healthy enough to return."

May felt that this was a chance to defy both of them for once, as her father still had the final say in matters between them. Why couldn't he be confident with her on her own like he was with Max? "No. I don't want to go to Unova and I still would like to get my own place. Please? Sure, it was a tough night, but I also realized that I can do more than just sit in your bubble and instead, do something I want to do."

"Listen to what you're saying," Norman tried to reason with her, "Three days ago and this stuff would have never come out of your mouth." He paused before bitterly accusing Ash, "Is it him? Is he the one that is filling your head with this nonsense?"

"Why do you talk of him like he is a threat?" She protested, looking over to Drew in hopes of some support. Instead, he gave her a sorrowful look and averted gazes, "He saved my life and he made me rethink how my life has been run."

The older man was about to snap back with an already brewed temper when the hallway door opened and Ash Ketchum walked in, accompanied by one of the nurses.

"So be sure to take one of the prescribed painkillers if you continue to feel intense pain. The stitches will dissolve after a week, so you will not have to come back for that. If the pain persists through the drugs, head back here or one of the hospitals in the Petalburg area."

"Many thanks,"

"No problem Lieutenant," She extended a clipboard, "Just sign here and you're free to leave. Have a nice day."

After parting ways with the nurse, Ash passed them and looked back, "Mister Maple." He switched his gaze over to May and Drew holding hands, "May."

"You must be Lieutenant Ketchum." He let go of her hand and extended it out to him, "Drew Hayden, May's boyfriend."

"Ash Ketchum," Gingerly squeezing it, he found it a bit unusual to have someone his age to title himself as a "boyfriend" but to each his own. "How are you doing?"

"Grateful," Drew gave him a once-over, "I'm so thankful that you rescued May here."

"I would have done it with anyone else," Ash replied, "Listen, I just got a visit from one of the reporters from BuzzNav's Mauville station. They're wanting to do a press conference with me and May this evening."

"I'll fill in for her," Norman stepped forward.

"Actually they specifically asked for May."

She sensed a slight bit of tension between them and decided to intervene because it could have gotten heated, "Dad, it'll be okay. Besides, I told you, I'm not really looking forward to the trip."

"Fine." He said, "Drew, why don't you take her home and get ready?" He faced Ash, "I'm guessing they're going to be informing us?"

The Commando nodded, "Right when all of you walk out the door." He slipped his hands in his pockets and turned to leave, "You have a nice day Mr. Maple. See you later tonight."

* * *

 **The good news is that my work shifts have been moved to a later time. While that means an update can come earlier, it also means I'll be working until late at night and that can get exhausting!**

 **And is there tension already starting to brew between Ash, Norman and Drew? Yeah, I'd say so, but it's also noteworthy that the latter doesn't seem so worried about Ash and May's budding relationship.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	13. Chapter 13

By the time the press conference was being held in the lobby of a hotel close to the Petalburg event center, people had congregated in the lobby where a stand was set for two people. Behind it was a lit blue backdrop with multiple partially transparent gold logo of the BuzzNav News Network.

The main source of news for the Hoenn Republic, it had large stations in every large city with the exception of LaRousse's privately owned broadcasting station.

Off to the side, both May and Ash were getting a briefing from one of the event staff in separate rooms before they were to go out. This news coverage was set to go on live national television, so they wanted them to look good overall.

"Wow," Ash gawked at the crowds outside, with reporters jostling through one another to try and get the closest spot possible for their stations, in the background were multiple lenses of cameras or recording devices, ready to shoot and cover every second, "That's a damn big crowd." He was never one for high profile stuff.

"It's your night," Zack Arron reassured him. He agreed to accompany Ash since Brendan, Damien and Jewell were working another case. Apparently, the latter two were spending a lot of time on such events together recently. "You rescued May Maple who happens to be the eldest child of Norman Maple."

Ash gave him a quizzical look.

"You know? Head of the Maple Software firm? They've been working on advanced electronic programs for the military and they just entered a nice contract with the KJ Federation."

The word of his home country collaborating with the company wasn't news to him, but it also could mean that both he and the firm garnered a lot more attention. Whether it was for the better or worse couldn't be determined.

"They're worth billions of dollars," Zack added, "And when the most skilled soldier that isn't even a native to Hoenn rescues a beautiful daughter like May, the press is going to eat that up like a Mawile. Don't be surprised if you're called by a Mauville fashion modeling agency."

"I'd be rather annoyed," Ash said.

Just in the next room, Norman and Drew were watching as May was escorted towards the chairs where she and Ash would be conducting the interviews. When she had left, both men followed her a bit behind until they could see the room from the side.

Ash arrived onstage, dressed in a black suit jacket and khakis. His hair was neat, compared to the bit of a messy fray it had been when he was in the hospital. He had shaved a little off his sideburns, although a bit of a five o clock shadow still remained. As May sat next to him, he took her outstretched hand and talked to her in a relaxed manner.

Norman however, was far from that feeling. Turning away from that sight, he leaned closer to Drew, "I think it is time we seal the deal with May."

Drew knew immediately what he was talking about and felt his heart begin to race, he also couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when Ash visibly led her to the staging area, "So you're finally giving me permission?"

"Yes. I have something to help you once we leave."

"Is there a reason why you're giving it to me now?"

Norman motioned towards Ash, "I see that he has rubbed off on May. She is taking a liking to him and we have to sever it before it gets out of hand."

"You know," Drew stated, "If he does have an interest in her, it might not be because she's pretty."

He looked over at his protégé, "What do you mean?"

"He could just be after a reward. Chances are when he first rescued her, she probably didn't think he was there to do that and used the card of having a wealthy parent to pay him to return her back home. Kinda egotistical in my eyes, but it might not be a bad idea to give it to him, if that's what he is after."

"Then why would she defend him?"

"No idea," Drew got a little frustrated with a lock of his hair, so he pushed it out of his face, "Still, worth a try."

"Maybe you're right." Norman looked back over at the two of them, "May wouldn't see it if it happened."

* * *

On the stand, May could hardly stand the attention. Despite being the daughter of a billionaire, it was usually her father or Drew that took the spotlight from her and dealt with whatever matters that she was in concerned. However this time, she was unable to escape it.

With Ash sitting to her right, his presence was strangely soothing. She began to get a little uneasy, but when he looked over in concern, there was no idea that it was because every minute sitting next to him, she was starting to wonder more and more in fantasies with the handsome Lieutenant.

On the other hand, he was having a hard time focusing on the reporters and their camera crews, as they still moved to try and get good angles at the interviewees. May was dressed in an emerald cocktail dress with a pattern of gems that ran directly down the center. It did nothing to hide her curvy body or her pronounced cleavage. Both things also failed to escape his notice too. Ash was a bit confused on why the formalities in attire, but he brushed it away, thinking it was merely for publicity.

"Just relax May." Ash reassured her, "If they question you with something you don't want to answer in detail, just make it simple and follow it with 'Thanks for asking'"

"Like that one football player that replied Yeah to everything they asked him?"

"That annoys them and it won't make it any easier," Ash chuckled, "Although that would be hella fun."

"It would," May giggled softly, "I'm just glad you're here so that I don't have to die from embarrassment."

"Then we'll die together," He placed a hand over hers, "Just look at me if you don't feel comfortable and I'll take it from there."

"Miss Maple?" One of the reporters began after May selected her over the shouts of journalists and media crews vying for her attention. "What did you think when people with guns began to storm into the stands?"

"I was thinking why would they ruin a perfectly good event to kidnap people?"

"When you were taken hostage, did you have fear of death?"

In May's head, that was probably one of the most stupid questions anyone could have asked. Of course when someone had a gun pointed at them, the fear of being injured or killed was present. "Yes. Thanks for asking."

Another reporter caught Ash's attention since he had a question for him, "You were the first to enter the building after it had been evacuated with warnings from the Syndicate to stay out. Did you ever think the hostages would be killed if you acted?"

"In any hostage rescue scenario, you always have to assume the worst. Dead hostages of course, but you also have to consider the danger to you and your team. Make one mistake and you could have one of your own bleeding out on the floor."

"Did you have confidence in your team to initially rescue the hostages at the center?"

Ash's face gave him a blank stare before replying, "We wouldn't have gone in if I didn't."

"So then what did you think when the hostages weren't there and the kidnappers were gone?"

"I figured that whoever organized the hit planned it quite meticulously and already had an escape plan before they even started. It was well thought out. But what really surprised me is that we ran one of the hostages' phone numbers who pinged their location just hours after they had disappeared."

Again the room was filled with a flurry of questions, directed at both before May selected one.

"When Lieutenant Ketchum rescued you, what happened afterwards?"

May breathed and glanced quickly at Ash. He opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it, "After he took care of the two men guarding me, we went to the helicopter sent to pick us up."

She remained silent, so he took over, "After we got out, there was an explosion at the bottom of the ship and another group of men with guns to keep the rest of my team occupied. I realized that we would have to find an alternate way off the ship or both of us would drown."

"You were a Commando for three years," The man said, "Did you have to utilize any of the skills learned through there to ensure a proper rescue?"

"When I rescued May and the chaos happened, she was with me every step of the way on her own."

She looked at him in complete disbelief as if she was the hero of her own rescue.

The rest of the interview went on for another ten minutes, but both could tell they were tiring them out with just regular answers of what had transpired.

Finally one reporter had broken the streak of the events and asked, "Did you or Lieutenant Ketchum fear that you would never make it back?"

"I never doubted him for a second." May looked over at him, dropping to a whisper, "Ash, you saved my life. Even when we swam away, I was scared out of my mind from aggressive Sharpedos, but I lost that fear when I was with you."

"You're a strong person May." Ash told her, "Don't let anyone say otherwise. You did everything right to make sure that you got rescued and back safe. All I did was guiding you." He paused, "And take out the thugs guarding you and shooting open the escape hole."

That got a chuckle from everyone.

"Still," She said. "What you told me on that island, gave me a new insight on my life. It's hard to believe that a few words from a complete stranger that I met eighteen hours ago could be so compelling. I'm starting to wonder; where have you been all these years and why haven't I met you sooner?"

"What did you talk about on the island?" A reporter blurted out. After the question, everyone else chimed in over one another.

May looked over to Ash with an answer to every new question thrown at them, "He told me that I am capable of achieving my dreams, as long as I never take my sight off them and keep moving forward. Nobody has ever told me something like that in a long time."

Pretty much everyone fed off that and began to fire questions left and right. For the rest of the conference, Ash sat back and watched as she took over the remaining time.

May was completely unaware of the proud smile growing on his face.

* * *

It was dark when the news stations had started to leave when the conference was deemed adjourned.

Ash had gone home before anyone had a chance to stop him for an exclusive interview and May was escorted out by security with her father and Drew.

Both men stayed a little behind as May got into the car that Norman had ready to take both of them home.

"See what I told you? It's time to seal the deal before it gets out of hand." He gazed at Drew. The glare he had was not directed towards the other man, but rather at the hour of his daughter exchanging words with Ash and the news. Now he was well aware that Ash's influence on May was much more cancerous that he had originally perceived.

His thought drifted back to Drew, maybe Ash's interest in May was only for money. He seemed to have quite an ego, but he was likely making an effort to conceal it. What if this Commando's ego could be put down if a large check was given to him in reward of her safe rescue?

* * *

 **Drew wants to offer Ash a reward for May's rescue. Think he'll take it?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	14. Chapter 14

The inside of the Jets' headquarter building was dark when Ash clocked himself in the next day. He headed down the hallways towards his office into the main room where the team would meet.

The lights were off so he flipped them on.

"SURPRISE!" The rest of his team cheered. They were all at the table with small boxes in front.

Ash was a bit shocked, "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"You don't seem to take days off, even when you've been ordered to." Zack explained, "So neither do we. We got you breakfast and then we're going to go and work on your house so that it actually looks like someone decent is living there."

Ash had bought a single story house off Wagner Air Force base and opted for the homey residential section on the northwest part of the city. He managed to nab one that appealed a lot to him for a decent price and it even had a fence that had a small sandbar lined with bushes in a makeshift private beach. Right now, he had little to no décor inside and all around the floor were the brown cardboard moving boxes.

"What about cases?"

"I already called dispatch and said unless something is demanding our attention, we're going to be unavailable for work today." Brendan said, "C'mon, let's eat and then get that new place of yours fixed up. Of course, you're the boss and dictate when we work and all."

"If that's one of those Razz Berry pancakes with chocolate chips, cheddar eggs and hash browns, then you all have the day off."

"Alright!" They cheered and dug in.

Half an hour later, Zack left and Jewell was about to when Damien said he would go with her.

Ash pulled him aside and told her to wait.

"I hear and see you and Jewell are spending a lot of time together."

"Yeah," Damien was thinking about her brown hair and green eyes, "She's a really good friend."

"A good friend?" Ash raised an eyebrow, offering him to elaborate.

When the fellow operator turned a slight shade of red, he was knocked on the shoulder, "Relax man, you're not in trouble." He leaned closer, "I know that you see her as someone more than just a friend, so go after it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because if you don't, then someone else will. I've seen it happen…more than once I might add."

* * *

"Man, why are you still here?" Brendan leaned in Ash's door, "You should be at your house on painkillers and watching sports network on the TV Zack just installed."

"I'll be right there." Ash clarified, "Just filing extra paperwork on the rescue and seeing if a surprise of my own is coming. Did you give the gunmaster our weapon stuff?"

"Yeah done. All inspected and ready to be used again." Decker heard the main door to the meeting area open and was a bit surprised to see Norman Maple. Aside from another one of his fancy suits, he had a guest badge attached on the lapel. "Huh, wonder what he's doing here?"

"I heard he and May's boyfriend were heading to Unova today. Hope nothing's wrong with her."

Brendan caught the last part in what Ash had said, but brushed it off. However it still nagged at the back of his mind.

Ash ignored the pain from the stitches in his side as he moved out of his office into their main room. Decker moved aside to let him through.

"Mister Maple," Ash began, "Good to see you again. How's May? I hope nothing else is wrong with her."

"No, May is fine." He couldn't quite read Norman's face; it had a mix of irritation, concern and impatience. It was evident that whatever he was here for, it wasn't because Ash was one of his favorite people. "May I have a word with you in private?"

"Sure," Ash gave Brendan a knowing look, "Hey, this is my second in command, Lieutenant Brendan Decker."

"Glad to meet you."

"Likewise Lieutenant Decker." Norman smiled at him before it faded.

"We can talk in my office. Brendan, go ahead and meet up with the others at my place. I'll be there shortly."

* * *

Ash's office had a rich dark wood with a computer in the corner where he faced the entrance with a black wire lamp over the keyboard. He had some of his personal things on the back wall where a shelf also had a couple model airplanes.

"What can I do for you Norman." The operator of the place sat behind his chair and folded his arms in rapt attention.

He sighed, "Lieutenant-"

"Oh and call me Ash."

"Ash, I'm so grateful that you rescued May and returned her back to us. I don't know if she could have made it out without your assistance."

"I'm glad May is back too. She's one of a kind."

Norman believed that Ash was playing something, as May would likely have never thought of shooting her way through the side of a sinking structure and swimming to shore a quarter of a mile on her own. He saw that Ash had several dark tattoos on both arms that extended further up into his shirt. That was typical of Commandos to get with varying designs of body art. To him, it was rather disgraceful and added to the appeal that he was a "bad boy" under the belief that he was second to none and free to take whatever he wanted. Norman was here to make sure that didn't happen.

"So I spoke with Drew and both of us believed that as a hero, we'd like to give you a gift in appreciation for the heroic acts of May along with the others."

"A gift?" Ash asked suspiciously. Judging by his surprise at that, Maple was now thinking that he was not after a reward as Drew had originally thought.

"Yes." Norman handed Ash a piece of paper. "A little something. It's the least we could do."

The Lieutenant turned it over and looked at the check, it was fifteen thousand dollars. Right away, he noticed it was enough to pay for his own mother to get treated for her sickness with plenty to spare.

On the other side, Norman watched with delight as Ash was contemplating whether to accept the check. To him, it was tormenting, but he had strong morals and zealously stuck to them. For once, he had caught the tough guy, Ash Ketchum off guard. As soon as he saw the surprise in his eyes, Norman knew that he had at least considered accepting it.

So it was his turn to be caught off guard when Ash pressed the money back into his palm. The action caused Norman to look over in question.

"Sir, I can't take any money from you. It isn't right."

For a moment, Norman had lost his own composure, but he had quickly regained it, "Please Ash, you deserve a reward for doing what you did. It appears that you need that money for something." To him, if Ash accepted the money, it would force May to no longer have any contact with him since he would have already gotten what he had intended for rescuing her.

"I'm not taking that money," Ash declared, "I was on duty at the time, so it would not be very ethical of me to accept it. Second, I don't deserve it." He stood up, "Captain Avery Gibson flew our bird into enemy territory to rescue all of them and died after getting shot three times, trying to help us get May and everyone else out. Give it to his widowed wife and daughter. For what he and his family put on the line to help us out, they deserve it ten times more than I do."

"His family didn't even lift a finger and you say they deserve fifteen thousand dollars?"

"Avery Gibson's wife and daughter," Ash raised his voice in annoyance, "Were well aware of the risks he took when he was on duty and stayed by his side through them. They were free to leave at any time they wished if they considered it unsafe. When he was hit, he kept his helicopter over the landing zone while being shot at multiple times. He and countless other servicemen and women like him put their lives in danger to protect the weak. Now because of that, both his Commanding Officer and I have to write a letter to his family, with our condolences on his death. In my mind, he is the true hero and if it were me, that check would be the least you could do."

"You were the one to put those absurd ideas into May's mind."

"What?"

"Take this money and stay the hell away from my daughter." Norman snapped, shoving the check into Ash's chest.

He suddenly turned defensive, "You know Mr. Maple, bribing a member of the military is illegal in most countries, Hoenn included. Especially officers. Or is this your way of threatening me if I don't take this?"

"I don't know what kind of game you're planning, but it's not going to work!"

"Game?"

"Placing those ideas into May's head. What did you two talk about on the island?"

Ash folded his arms, "What May and I spoke about on there is between us and our matter. Now, if you want her to disclose the information of what we spoke about, it's up to her."

"You have no right to violate me and my family's privacy and invade her life!" Norman's face began to turn red with anger. "You don't even know her!"

Keeping his calm, Ash replied, "No, I don't, but May had invited me in without hesitation. It's probably because I was the first person to listen to her in a long time. Mister Maple, how well do you know your daughter?"

"I know what's best for her! We were doing happy and you have no place in our life!"

"I think May was just going along. You were the one happy."

Norman angrily grabbed the check out of Ash's hands and shoved it in his pocket, "I don't care who you are or what you've done in your Federation military! Stay away from May and the rest of my family!"

There was nothing else to say. Ash watched as the man stomped and exited the building. After the conference, Ash and May hadn't seen one another since. They never exchanged addresses or talked about meeting up again, but he did tell her where his team's office was located in case she needed anything.

The reaction from her father meant that she was adamant in setting up this new fold.

Ash was still grinning at the thought of her when he had reached his new house.

* * *

Both Norman and Drew were silent as their business jet, a silver and dark green lined Embraer Lineage 1000, thundered down the runway of Petalburg's International Airport before lifting its nose up and slowly climbing out into the sky. Their pilot brought it to altitude and turned the aircraft west to begin the eight and a half hour flight to Unova.

The Lineage 1000 was a business version of a family of airplanes made by aerospace company Embraer. Featured as an ultra-large type of sky yacht, it housed a fuel tank on the lower deck cargo hold space, nearly doubling its maximum range. It had a comfortable room to seat nineteen individuals, although this one only carried eight. Norman, Drew, their secretaries, two other executives and the pilots.

As it reached a cruising altitude of twenty nine thousand feet, the view of Hoenn's west coast faded away within a few minutes and was replaced with nothing except pristine blue waters that reflected white sunshine from above.

The interior was enough to compete with any five star hotel, with a rich burgundy colored carpet, plush chairs, a large bathroom, dining table for four that could be pulled out into a meeting one, a large flat screen TV across from a sofa and at the back was a closed off private section that served as a personal office with network and telecommunication connection from an executive terminal.

For the first couple hours of the flight, Norman, Drew and their executives talked business, going it over an early dinner of shrimp risotto with mushrooms and freshly steamed vegetables with a chocolate torte cake before polishing it off with Kalosian Champagne. Eventually, everyone had gotten a little tired and was more than ready to get on the ground in Castelia City. Unfortunately, when Drew pulled up the GPS location on the flat screen, they had five hours still to go. It would be close to ten in the evening when they would touch down.

He sat on one of the sofas with a pullout table when Norman approached. He saw the older man coming and waved him over to the chair on the opposite side.

"Just confirming our reservations on the Royal Unova tomorrow night." He said. They were set to meet up with Unovan officials for the purpose of their trip on the famous moonlit cruise. "They're still on."

"Good."

"Definitely," Drew agreed, "So you're probably not here to tell me how good the torte was, although it was delicious. What's on your mind Norman?"

"I wanted to give you this." He reached inside of his pocket and set a tiny velvet box on the side. Opening it up, he took out a fine gold ring that had one blue and one green colored diamond on the top. It looked to have cost a week's worth of his pay.

"May had a toy one as a child and adored it. I had the jeweler copy it into something real. Those diamonds were mined in Kalos' Reflection Cave."

"Did you have something planned for a proposal?"

"Originally, I was going to have it on our Royal Unova cruise. Now that she's not here…" Norman paused, "We can schedule it for another time."

"Any other plans I should know about?"

"You're acting like a kid," Norman snapped, "You love May, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"And I know that. Now is the time to make it official. You're definitely know what is going to be best for her future and the sooner it happens, the better."

Drew set the ring back in the box and closed it, "This have to do with that Commando guy?"

The look in Norman Maple's eyes told him everything, "I have a feeling that we're going to get to know him quite well."

"What happened?"

"I tried giving him the check. Fifteen thousand dollars, enough to pay for just about anything he wanted, but he didn't accept it!"

Drew had to force himself not to recoil in front of his future father-in-law, "He didn't? That's enough to pay just about any debt he might be in! Maybe even haul his ass back to the Federation in first class tickets! It's probable that he didn't come here willingly."

"He was more worried about May's safety and he's putting fantasies in her head that will put her at risk!"

The other man chuckled, "You're funny when you get worked up. I don't know what the fuss is all about. She just came out unscathed from an endangering ordeal! People feel obligated to feel and do things to get a better appreciation of life when they realize how close of a brush with death they experienced. Think about when you go to see motivational speakers or read their bestselling books of complete nonsense. You feel like you can make a difference and change your lifestyle to suit that. Come two weeks and you'll revert back to your old self. So I'm not really worried about May. She's going through that right now. Let her enjoy herself around this guy, besides; it could mean our company's relations with future military clients could be warmer."

Norman nodded, but he still didn't look convinced.

"I met the guy." Drew scoffed, "He's not May's type. Of course people are going to feel affection towards someone who saved them, but time will pass. After all, he's a Commando. Fighting and killing enemies is probably all he knows and won't function properly in social terms. I have money, wealth, offering just about anything May would want. What does he have in answer to that?"

Now that he had put it into perspective, the words had soothed Norman a bit and put him at ease.

"Although I have to admit, her partner in crime, Dawn annoys me like none other. She has to be something we need to deal with. Now this Commando called Ketchum, he'll be history in a matter of weeks, he's probably on call twenty four seven and the fact that his unit's demand for intervention on domestic threats is growing everyday, the time he can spend with May regardless will be reduced."

"I hope you're right. Dawn's been a pain in my rear for almost two decades."

"Dawn will be history too once we're married." Drew smiled, "May's time for education and with her will be cut once she has to care for our children."

"That makes me feel much more at peace. Thank you so much Drew, talking like my son-in-law already!" He clapped him happily on the back, "You are Arceus' blessing to my family."

* * *

 **This week was supposed to have three updates, but a family emergency with my grandmother (She was one who inspired me to write) will likely set it back to just two, with the second one being at the weekend. Hope for three, but expect just two. A big thanks to everyone who has faithfully followed this story and those who patiently await the next update. It may be a while, but it will be rewarded.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you all give my writing purpose.**


	15. Chapter 15

May waited until her father and Drew were flying by checking the air traffic out of Petalburg airport on her phone. Once she saw onscreen that their plane was en route to Unova, she quietly celebrated, knowing that she had a complete week off without either of their grief to put up with.

However that meant that she was responsible for taking care of herself and Max. In a way, her father had agreed to leave her behind and head to Castelia with Drew in tow. If she was ready to be independent and live by herself, a good start was in her own home.

He never hired maids to do things around his house, although a gardening crew came and did their work quickly once every week and a half.

Ever since entering her senior year of high school, May had carpooled with Dawn to and from, continuing it through college. She had her driver's license, but no car and they resorted to Dawn's old sedan, which broke down a couple years ago, resorting her to purchase a new one.

She had the access code, causing the gate to swing open and she went on the lavish concrete roundabout, circling around a fancy two deck fountain in the center.

May locked the door behind her and ran up to her best friend, a huge smile on her face after hearing Dawn's high pitched squeal of excitement. She wrapped her arms around, very much aware of how close they came to losing each other.

She was the closest thing May ever had to a twin sister, the childhood friend moving next door many years ago from Sinnoh became her best friend since they were both six.

"Never do that to me again!" Dawn mock-angrily hit May's arm, causing the two to giggle. "C'mon, let's go to that new wrap stand for lunch and get your stuff at Broadstone! I took the day off, so we can spend it together!"

The two of them hopped into the car and drove out onto the main street. A couple blocks away, Dawn flipped the turn indicator and zoomed onto the highway, heading towards the school.

She was someone May felt the most comfortable around. When her father held her back, Dawn was one who instead took her forward. Norman was not fond of her, but tolerated her since May's mother treated her like another sister. It was definitely a surprise that her father hadn't yet forbade Dawn from wandering on their property yet; however she was likely pushing her luck.

Dawn owned and operated her own small Poffin bakery outside a shopping square and was in Broadstone to complete her degree in business and marketing. She was as upbeat as a businesswoman as she was in her social and academic life.

"Um...fine I guess."

"No really May," She pressed, "How do you feel?"

"Alive." May couldn't stop the smile from growing on her face, "Something wonderful happened and I feel alive. So much more alive than I've ever been before!"

"Ah," Dawn reflected a mischievous smile of her own, "It's something? Or is it a certain someone? He is certainly quite tasty!"

"Someone?" She wondered if her best friend was not referring to Drew.

"You don't know?"

"Not really."

"Let me help you out. The Commando. Mr. Ash Ketchum?" Dawn dreamily said, "May that man is HOT! H-O-T with a capital G for gorgeously in front! You have to get on top of that man and stick your tongue down his throat!"

"Dawn!" May gasped, although her statement couldn't help a strong blush burning through her cheeks. "Stop!"

"Arceus, where do I begin?" She ignored her best friend's protest continuing to dream while driving, "Those auburn eyes. Holy shit, sexy as hell. They brim with warmth, but also cold determination. Black hair that's just the right length with that five o clock shadow that makes him look like a total bad boy! Then he has amazing lips that are perfectly fit for his face, look soft as pillows and nicely lined teeth that form a hot ass smile! He does that a lot to you, May. I think he likes you too!"

"Stop it Dawn!" She continued to protest, "I have Drew."

She huffed in response, "Drew…Drew's a boy. Now Ash…" Upon saying his name, Dawn began to purr like a Delcatty, "He's a man."

May giggled with her.

"What is he like?" She still was a bit dreamy over her fantasy of him.

"He's kind of protective," May saw Dawn begin to frown and held up her hand to hold off further opinions, "But it's a different kind of protectiveness than Dad and Drew. It's more like the kind where he will stand behind, guiding and intervening when you're in real trouble. I can tell he's strong, but at the same time gentle. Not only was he good at facing a fear with the two guys trying to harass me, but he guided me away from the fear and put it at the back of my mind. Even in the waters where Sharpedos are, he ignored it and kept me calm the entire time."

"May," Dawn was now pulling into a parking spot on Broadstone's campus, "What really happened when we were there?"

"He saved my life Dawn. I was worried that I was going to be raped when he burst in and killed both the men. He had gotten into hand to hand fighting against the guys with limbs flying in every direction and one of them was trying to attack him with a knife. I was so terrified that my savior would get beaten, but he didn't. In fact, he seemed like he had the advantage the entire fight."

"Oh May," Dawn put her hands over her best friend's not being able to imagine the things she had went through.

"When the place started going down, I don't even think he panicked. He found a solution in less than thirty seconds and soon enough we were out, swimming in the ocean to the island. The whole time we were there, I was scared that he would abandon me, but many times over he just told me that he would never leave my side."

Dawn was completely taken aback by her story. Once she had been rescued by another man named Brendan Decker, she had been taken aboard the helicopter which came under fire from many bullets before they flew back to the Navy ship. "What happened after that?"

"He climbed both of us on top of these cliffs and we made a fire to signal for help."

"Arceus!" Dawn exclaimed, "The nurses said he had surgery for a knife wound and he had been shot twice!"

"What!" May had only gotten the knife incident out of Ash, she had no idea that he had been shot too. "So he carried me even with all those injuries? He didn't feel weak or anything. I could still feel the muscles underneath his gear, he was so strong!"

"You felt his muscles," Dawn gave her a smirk, "There's other muscles on other parts of his body worth feeling."

"Shut up!" May still couldn't help it when both girls giggled as if they were sixteen again.

"May, I've known you since you were six. Don't even try and hide the fact that you have a huge crush on him. It's written all over you."

"It's not just that," May's face felt as if it was on fire when she did not deny Dawn's statement, "It's that he's so different that any other boy or man for that matter, that I've met before."

"What do you mean?"

"He told me things that I haven't heard in a long time. Specifically, things my mom used to say."

"Ash told you things like that?"

"Yeah, it's as if he could see past the part where I have a rich father and am just a girl who wants to go out and enjoy what the world has to offer." May nervously said, "Oh Arceus, Dawn. What do I do? After that time on the island with him, I don't want to ever go back to my old life again."

Dawn opened the door, the summer sun was coming through the windows and starting to make the inside feel like an oven. "May, those are some of the most inspiring words I've heard you say. Now all we have to do is surround yourself with like-minded people." That and dealing with Norman and Drew, the two biggest obstacles in her way.

"Go get your stuff," May was shooed out of the car, "And hurry up. We got things to do!"

"Why? What are we doing?"

"We're gonna get some of your favorite beer, get drunk and celebrate your new life plan."

"That's it?"

"Sure," Dawn gave another mischievous grin, "Unless you want to find where a certain Federation Commando lives?"

"Then just show up at his house?"

"Sure, why not? I'll bet he'll be more than happy to see you!"

"You would imagine that."

"Yeah, well imagine this. Your hands on those muscles of his and your lips all over that gorgeous mouth!"

"No!" Even though Dawn loved embarrassing her, May still admired the fact that when it came to boys, her best friend never held back on anything. It didn't matter how lewd it got, she spoke her mind and the same applied to everything else. "He's just cute. You know right?"

"Drew is cute." Dawn scoffed, "Now Ash is something you wake up the next morning all sore and then do it all again without hesitation. Now go get your stuff! We don't want to waste too much time!"

May wandered down the campus halls towards her professor's office and began to wonder if Drew and her were really meant to be. They were introduced by her father and she merely said yes to his invitation to date due to the fact she didn't want to embarrass either of them. Of course she loved him, but she just realized that it was more for her father's wishes and peace of mind than it was for her own.

Then there was Ash. From how much Dawn had described in detail, it was clear that she was smitten with him. He was clearly out of her league and if he had already caught Dawn's heart, then it was certain he had done the same to many more. The fact stung her that Ash was the closest thing to the man of her dreams and he was already untouchable.

* * *

"To life! And all the adventures it holds!" Dawn popped off the cap of two beers and held one of them out to May.

"Bottoms up!" They clinked bottles and took sips, savoring the familiar taste.

"Oh I know," Dawn wiped her mouth, "How about we do a little something to cheer him up if he's having a down day at work!"

"Like what?"

She sidled up to her best friend and outlined her plan.

"I love it!" May joyfully agreed, "But should we go through with it?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Well it's because he probably already knows I'm with someone. Why don't we take him for Brendan instead? I saw you gave him a look a little too long."

"Don't try and put this on me girlfriend," Dawn shot back, "Even though Brendan is pretty damn hot too."

"What can I offer Ash anyway besides any other girl? He's probably got one in every corner of the world?"  
"How can you know if you haven't even asked about his family?"

"I don't know," May put her head down, "He already knows about Drew."

"Then he's assuming you're seeing someone."

"I am seeing Drew."

"Exactly," Dawn took a swig of beer, "You're saying you're perfectly happy with Drew?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then why are you not doing anything to change that? Why are you still with him?"

"I don't know," Dawn right now was not making things any better and their plan of putting May and Ash together was already shot.

"Well I'll tell you. He's basically conservative, safe, non-risk taking. Now that might be what someone else may look for in somebody, but not you. To me, he's just boring as hell and I bet a million other guys act just like him, minus the fact that he has enough money to rub it in his hair like shampoo and turn it green."

May knew she was right. Over time, she found out that the love she had for Drew was diminishing and in a sense his comfort kept her close rather than an affection for one another. In order to do move away, she had to converse with both him and her father, the latter being a rather dreadful thought. At the same time, she didn't want to hurt him.

"Still, I don't want to hurt his feelings."

"May! Do you think Drew or your father ever gave a shit about yours? Absolutely not! If they don't care about your own happiness, you shouldn't for theirs!"

"They don't have thick skin like you do Dawn!"

"Listen to yourself May! I've watched you break down over the course of twenty years with Drew and your dad manning the helm of controlling what you do everyday! You told me how you wanted to reshape yourself upon encountering the man of your dreams! I heard some of the best motivation from you and now here we are just a hundred and twenty minutes later and you're already shrouded yourself in doubt and denial! Do you want to renovate your life or not?"

May sighed, taking another drink. She suddenly found it strange that she was venting her problems out while consuming alcohol. Another big no-no her father strictly enforced, especially with Max in the house. "I'm just scared and nervous. What if I mess up?"

"May, something like this is not easy and usually never is. You need to look past everything your father has drilled into your mind about relationships and do what is best for yourself! I know that sounds selfish, but if you're satisfied with your life, won't it be worth it?"

"I suppose so."

"Not the response I was expecting, but at least it's not glum." Dawn gave May a hug, "C'mon, let's get started. I know the perfect thing."

* * *

 **What is this perfect thing?**

 **This will likely be the last chapter of the week, although that is subject to change. I turn 21 in a couple days and am also working additional hours later this week. If an update is to come, it will likely be on the weekend.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	16. Chapter 16

"He's heading left on Jade Avenue!"

The slim man with a dark hoodie and basketball shorts had taken off before either Ash or Brendan had a chance to even start apprehending him. Before long, the screech of a car as his partner had climbed in had gotten their attention, temporarily taking their eyes off their suspect. Unfortunately that was all the time he needed to get a head start.

Ash was in full pursuit on his heels as their suspect had decided to head into a farmer's market set up in the middle of the street. No cars were around on the street, although people were everywhere, selling everything from farm fresh vegetables, berries, fruits to homemade pastries.

As he shoved aside a pedestrian on a motor bike, he kicked on the gas and sped down the way without any consent of the people in front. Those who were in his path let out startled screams and quickly moved aside.

Close behind, Ash was losing ground after the new ride and didn't see any other options besides his own car, so he eased his pistol out of his holster and took aim, much to the gasps of the people around.

"He's gonna shoot him!"

Aiming squarely at the retreating biker, his finger began to tighten on the trigger.

Then suddenly as if Arceus knew his intentions and wanted to spare the man, a large cooler suddenly lurched out in front of the bike's path. It impacted dead center, throwing it off balance enough to topple on its right side. The sleek figure of Jewell stepped out from the side moments later, pistol drawn at their crook.

"Nice work Jewell." Ash complimented.

* * *

"You lied to us Fred." Ash circled him in their interrogation chamber. The interior had a dark bluish appearance with a polarized glass so that the prisoner would face the back of the room. One of the Jets would enter from behind and then come across the small table in the center.

"I'd never lie to you!"

"You did this morning before you even knew who we were."

"Look I would never had guessed you're some sort of super cop!"

"Oh really?" Ash chided, "What would you have done differently? Why the hell would you have ran off when you could have just called us for help? I mean, we wired you up and put you back to your dealer for a second deal."

"The dealer I met with was different. I've never seen that guy before!"

"Boss," Jewell said into his earpiece, "Got something for ya."

Ash stood up and he glared at Fred, "I'll be back." He menacingly threatened before heading out the door.

* * *

"Turns out that Fred was just a runner. CSU just recovered and processed his drug stashes and they discovered a hidden data disc drive that was inside one of the packs. They decrypted the intel on there and it shows details on Sinnoh's Navy plans for their new aircraft launching platform and build site."

"Wait, so this was never about the dope? This was all about the classified location of Sinnoh's new Navy plans?"

"I think so. The dealer was going to take back the drugs that Fred had bought and someone caught onto it and thought he could make a good deal by just getting back the cheaper narcotics while Fred had no idea that there was a chip containing a piece of intel on a classified Sinnoh military project."

"Have they confirmed this?"

"When I made the discovery, the a Sinnoh Admiral informed me that there was a security breach and a sleeper virus was discovered."

Ash nodded, "Jewell inform them that they may have compromised intel on their Naval plans and see what you can find on this new dealer's identity. When you're done, tear his history apart. I want to know everything about this guy down to where he went to high school."

"I'm on it," Jewell turned and began to stride out.

"Oh, and lunch is on me." Ash locked the door to the interrogation room, "Text me all of your orders."

* * *

"Okay, so we got flour, butter, milk, chocolate chips. Think that's everything?"

"I don't know." May looked over their shopping list as they cruised down another aisle of the grocery store. A jingle played on the overhead speakers and since it was in the middle of the day, only a few shoppers were seen.

"C'mon May, it was your idea to make blondies instead of cookies! How do you even know if he'll like them?"

When she didn't respond, Dawn looked over her shoulder. May was staring at someone in the far distance, transfixed by whomever it was.

There he was, standing right at the deli counter, speaking with the young employee behind the counter. He handed him a slip of paper and pushed his own cart down the aisle. His glance drifted straight at them and May let out a squeak and quickly hid herself behind another aisle.

"May!" Dawn scolded, "What in Arceus' name are you doing?"

"That's him!"

"Of course that's him! Why don't you go and say hi?"

"I don't him to see me here!"

"That's ridiculous May."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is!" Dawn chided, "You're acting like a kid again who's seeing their crush somewhere else besides school. Go on!" She pushed May out in the open, but her best friend refused to budge. "Say hi or at least strike up a conversation with him like normal people!"

May thought about Dawn's words and thought what bad could possibly come out of it. The least she could do is not visibly shy away from him in public.

Ash thanked the man with a basket full of sandwiches and chip bags before he made his way over to the express checkout lane and was out the door before May even had the chance to call his name.

"You just missed a great opportunity."

"So?" She retorted, "We're going to see him later today to give him the best gift we can." She had no doubt that due to her father's opinion of the man, he had tried to give him a large amount of money in order to force a cut in ties with her.

"A better gift is a sandwich with some head on the side, but this will do." Dawn chuckled perversely.

May felt no regret shoving her best friend against the aisle causing several jars of stacked food to shatter on the floor.

* * *

"Glad to see you back," Brendan accepted the bag and began to hand out sandwich orders. He jerked his thumb towards a six wheeler with several long boxes and a stapled packet of paper. "That just came in about ten minutes ago. The delivery person went to grab a coffee and he'll be back."

"You gonna tell us what it is boss?" Jewell asked.

"Sure," Ash waved the shipping guy over and sent him off with the signed forms and took the keys. "We got some new toys."

Flipping open the locks, he removed the lid to see a large foam padding and a piece of metal wrapped in clear plastic covering.

What he pulled out of the box surprised everyone.

Having been used to standard assault rifles with their magazine in front of the trigger, this new rifle had the receiver instead behind, closer to the shoulder. The overall size was shorter in a carbine fashion to provide extra mobility.

The front of the barrel had two sides of rails for an optical and side mounted attachment and the black silvery finish gave it a futuristic appearance. These new weapons were unlike anything they had ever seen before.

"Damn, that looks sick." Zack said, admiring the gun as he accepted his lunch.

"This is the X95 bullpup assault rifle. Chambered for the five five six round and modular accessories to fit different combat environments." He unlocked the other cases and the others had gathered around to view the same weapons. "These are ours and we'll start using them in our next operation."

"What's that one?" Jewell pointed to another box that was a little longer.

"See for yourself."

Taking the key from his outstretched hand, she headed over to the box and popped it open.

Inside was a black painted long barreled rifle with a modifiable rail and several optics. Compared to her previous banged up and used weapon, she felt giddy as a child having a new big toy.

"I heard you like the bolt-action." Ash came up behind her, "Mark twenty one Precision Modular Sniper Rifle. The three three eight Magnum cartridge will take off the hat of a bad guy at nearly fifteen hundred yards. This thing is gorgeous."

"She sure is," Jewell gave him a light hug, "You sure it's not my birthday?"

* * *

May felt uneasy as she and Dawn walked into the main entrance of the building were the address had directed them. For a group that did nothing but special operations, this seemed more like an office tenant than a place to plan strikes.

"Excuse me," She timidly asked a woman that was just exiting, "Do you know where we can find Ash Ketchum?"

"Go through the main hallway and take a left. The Jets' headquarters are right there and Lieutenant Ketchum's office is on the left."

* * *

"Glad it's all taken care of," Ash pushed the last paper into a folder and set it on his desk, "Now I can finally go home and relax for a moment."

"A moment?" Brendan chuckled, "Should be more like a couple days. I'm surprised you've cleared yourself back to active duty."

"I'm a workaholic, what can I say?"

"That you are not like a human being."

Decker was waiting for Ash's smart assed reply when he looked up and saw him with a rather surprised expression on his face. Looking behind, he saw the source of the unexpected turn of events.

May led the way inside with a rather attractive girl with bluish hair behind. She carried a large rectangular dish covered in silver foil.

"You know," Brendan's surprise turned into a smirk directed at his boss, "I haven't seen you this happy since the press conference."

"Why do you think she's here?"

"Oh I don't know," He sarcastically replied, "Wrong address?"

"Let's go find out." Ash stood up.

"Oh my goodness," Dawn gushed loud enough for only herself and May to hear, "He's even better looking in person. And his friend Brendan is just as hot!"

"Hi May," Ash's smile grew, "I see you had no trouble with the address."

May was a bit frozen with uncertainty of what to do so Dawn gave her a jab with her elbow. What she didn't know was that she had been daydreaming after looking at Ash's athletic shirt that hung loosely on his top and it defined his sculpted build.

"I…uh, brought you something." She took off the cover to reveal a golden brown crust of blondie bars. "I never had you as someone who liked brownies."

"Well I do prefer blondies over brownies."

That won about a hundred points with her. She nailed his sweet tooth on one try. "Does that also go to women? Because I don't fit that. Maybe a blowjob will do so-" She caught herself in mid-sentence and her face turned ruby red. Dawn burst into laughter, making May want to grab her in a headlock and escape before the awkwardness set in. The other man had also heard it and was giving Ash a rather suggestive grin.

"Ash, does this always happen to every country you go?" He gave his partner a pat on the back, "I say it once more; you're a lucky son of a bitch."

"Well," Ash tried to find a way to ease the humiliation she was going through, "Personally I find brownies can be too sweet, so blondies are just right. Especially with chocolate chips."

"Ash," May gestured to Dawn, who had finally died down from her laughing fit, "This is my best friend, Dawn Berlitz."

"Don't worry," He gave another one of his heartwarming grins as he shook her hand, "I only appear scary to pretty women if they're held hostage."

"We know you can't take a reward." May had no doubt that her father had tried to bribe him with a fancy check.

"You're right," Ash set his hands in his pockets, "We can't."

"And we didn't." Brendan finished for him.

When he saw May's face go down, he decided to brighten her mood, "But since blondies are not used in a form of bribery and are not currency, we can certainly accept that as an appreciation gift."

"How is your wound?"

"Ah it's healing," Ash rubbed his side where he had been stabbed, "I got him back though, so we're even."

May giggled.

"You seriously making it like a score?" Brendan asked.

"Well I'll say it's probably a four on the scale of the worst injuries I've received."

"Really?"

"Have you ever fallen two hundred feet down a mudslide?"

May gasped, Ash survived that?

"No and it's probably something you couldn't survive."

"I did," Ash proudly said, "Well I was wearing the Mark two Rhydon class Exoskeleton."

Dawn couldn't help but smile at the banter between the two of them. She had no idea that they were acquainted for only a few weeks, but behaved as if they were best friends for years.

"Oh and while we were here, we wanted to ask if you guys would like to help out at the youth swimming camp later this week? Broadstone holds one every summer for the underprivileged kids to put emphasis on exercise."

May stared blankly at Dawn, knowing she was taking a risky move in asking that.

"What do we need to do?"

"Just show up, teach them how to swim and races and all that," May hesitantly went along, "Mostly have a lot of fun, since everyone does while there."

"I'm down for it," Ash agreed with another signature smile, "Jewell's Navy, so she'll be there too."

"Jewell?" Dawn asked.

"Another member of our team. Both of you will love her."

"Awesome!" May secretly pumped a fist, knowing she would be able to see Ash again, "It's at West Petalburg's Community Center from eleven to three. Although if you're busy and are needed elsewhere, that's okay." She covered her mouth, not wanting to spill those words of discouragement out.

"What are you talking about May?" Ash asked, "Of course at least Jewell and myself will be there."

"Yeah," Brendan chimed in, "Zack and I can handle anything that crops up."

"We can all go out to this new grill place that Zack says is his favorite over by his place. You can meet the rest of the team there."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up, "Thank you so much!" Once again, she was flattered and threw her arms around Ash in gratitude. The reddened cheeks Ash had did not escape Dawn's or Brendan's attention.

"Yeah, c'mon," Ash set the pan of blondies on his deak and looped his arm around her back, "I'll walk both you out."

As he was about to leave, Dawn gave Brendan a rather suggestive look, "So what about you? Need a little special lady in your life?"

He raised an eyebrow in amusement, "I'm married."

It was Ash and May's turn to laugh at Dawn.

* * *

 **Always that one that gets away right Dawn?**

 **Well it's been an interesting week. I had a fun time turning 21. Now able to legally purchase alcohol. No new tattoos, so that's a good thing.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	17. Chapter 17

"He's here!" Dawn squealed and grabbed May's arm, "Ash's here!"

May felt her heart lurch in her chest and sprang to her feet to head out with her. She stopped at the parking spot where Ash was just exiting…a Manectric?

The elegant vehicle could cost as much as thirty thousand, except this one was painted in a dark gray fashion. The entire body was sleek, as the car was designed to be fast, maneuverable and an eye catcher. The way its engine was purring as he shut it off sent shivers down her spine at the raw power.

"You like the beast huh?" Ash grinned, extending a hand out and locking it. The lights flashed and it beeped once, "Goes from zero to sixty in less than three seconds with top notch handling. She was delivered to us this morning." It had already given the Jets an edge in catching fleeing suspects in cars.

Out of the shotgun seat of the car emerged a brown haired woman just slightly taller than both of them, but shorter than Ash. Her warm face cracked an easy smile that put all three of them at ease.

"I'd like you all to meet Jewell. She's our team's sniper."

After they exchanged pleasantries, Ash spoke up again. "So May, where would you like us to be?"

"Um," May started, "The main thing is to have a lot of fun. Our most favorite station is the wave pool. Do any of you surf?"

"It's been a while," Ash said, "But I know the basics."

"Excellent!" May exclaimed, "All you have to do is catch a wave with the kids! Is that something you'd feel comfortable doing?"

"Sure," Ash agreed, "Show me the way."

May began to lead him, but then suddenly stopped, "Oh my Arceus, I totally forgot about you Jewell!"

"No worries, do you need more surfers?" She didn't help noticing that May was completely enticed by Ash's presence and paid her no attention.

"Yeah," She was always in need of the people, but she wanted to get out of her embarrassing situation as fast as possible. There were other positions that needed to be staffed though.

"I surf from time to time too. I take it's a big wave pool?"

* * *

May and Dawn parted from Ash and Jewell for the majority of the day. Both Jets were quite impressed on how smoothly the event ran and the amount of children who showed up.

Ash was initially a bit nervous around them, since he had seldom spent time with one as an adult. Overall, about fifty kids had shown up, all in tiny bathing suits and cute colored goggles with enthusiastic attitudes. Not only was it to have some fun, but another way to cool off from the sun. The temperature was starting to creep towards a record high when midday had occurred.

The wave pool was unlike any other Ash had ever seen. It was almost a walk of its own to reach the other side and extended to a depth of twelve feet at the far end. There, the generators worked in a separate room to spawn waves that increased in size over time that were large enough for surfers. The right side had a couple of twisting water slides that were inactive at the moment and the other side of the pool was a long seventy five yard lap pool that was currently in the middle of an excited water polo match.

May reached one of the umbrellas and sat down in the shade watching the activity on the wave side. Jewell, Ash and a third surfer named Brawly were the only active ones to attend this late.

The Commando's partner, a little six year old girl had a bright pink life jacket on and she held onto Ash's hand as he used his free one to balance themselves on their board as the wave began to pick up speed.

The little one had the biggest smile on her face when they came to the shallow end. She stumbled a bit off balance, but Ash's hand set her straight as he led her ashore to her parents.

"You have fun Kelly?"

"Yeah!" She squealed, "We went faster than a plane!"

"You're a good surfer," Ash knelt down and extended a hand. Kelly enthusiastically gave him a high five from both her hands, "I'll surf with ya anytime bruh." He clenched his fist, extending his pinkie finger and thumb in a common surfer gesture.

"You bet!" Kelly excitedly bound away.

"Hey brah," May emerged from the umbrella and tossed him a bottle of water from her backpack, "How's the water?"

"Feels a little colder than I expected." Ash brushed some drops out of his hair before sipping, "Other than that the kids are great. Some of them came back twice or three times!"

As he was talking about a story of their recent surfing adventure, May had suddenly cut his one sided conversation out of her mind. This was the first time she had seen him shirtless.

There were times she would read magazines and see men with beautifully sculpted bodies and Ash's was no different. His most defined features were his triceps that preceded broad shoulders. Underneath the six pack abdominals sat a V shaped line that ran underneath a pair of green shorts. Her gaze wandered to the tattoos on his arms, both of them having writing that was a bit small for her to read at a distance and split by black thunderbolts. His front was bare, but she could tell that he had more art on his back.

Her mind wandered into another fantasy where he approached and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her face in for a kiss.

"May?" Ash asked for the third time, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You okay?"

She suddenly blushed, realized that she was looking straight at his abs. May turned away a little too quickly, having been caught. Now, Jewell had joined Ash's side, looking at her with equal concern. Why did he always have to look so good?

"Yeah," She sheepishly said, "Anyway thank you guys for coming. We do this every year so I hope you're okay with me begging you to come back."

"It's more the other way around," Jewell said as she hugged her, "We'd love to come on back."

"They're starting to close the pool down for the day," Ash said, "But we got time for one more wave. Want to join us May?"

"I don't know how to surf."

"It's okay, you can come out on a board with me." He looked at Jewell for support. "You in?"

"Hell yeah. Only thing better is some real waves!"

"I didn't know you could surf really well." May commented.

"I grew up in a little town called Pacifidlog. Surfing is done almost daily. Since I joined the military and the Jets, I've found myself having less time to enjoy."

"I don't know." She was reluctant to go back out.

"Look, if you're not comfortable with it, that's completely fine. I can call the rest of my team to meet us at the Endzone Grill."

"No I'll do it." May remembered Dawn's words of encouragement and vowed not to crumble at the prospect of an excellent opportunity. She grabbed the board, "What are we waiting for?"

Ash and Jewell grinned at one another before joining her in the surf.

* * *

"Just keep paddling." Ash instructed. He was just behind her, close to the surfboard's back. May was grateful again that even though he was partially lying on top of her, he was unable to see her face which was beginning to turn red and it wasn't from the heat.

"You're doing good." He reassured before directing both of them under one of the incoming waves, "Just keep going out."

With Jewell just behind them, they reached the deep end of the pool where the waves were barely an inch tall since the generator was closer.

"I'll give you two lovebirds some time." She called out to them, "This is Jewell One, requesting clearance for takeoff."

"Jewell One, waves are at a three six zero," Ash put on a radio operator's tone in his voice and made a fist like a radio, causing May to giggle at the lighthearted humor, "Have a safe flight."

"Thank you. Jewell One out." She suddenly paddled towards the other end just as a wave swelled up to an impressive height and propelled her towards the end. They heard a crash as the wave fell down, spraying the side of the pool with foam.

"Feels so peaceful out here." May felt Ash's body get off hers so that he could sit up. "I could spend all day out here."

"Me too," Ash said, "Unfortunately I don't surf as much as I'd like to. But when I do, it is relaxing."

Although he wouldn't admit it, the thought of the back of her body touching the front of his was having all his nerves firing. Sure he found her to be a rather attractive person and the idea of her being a damsel being rescued by a knight in shining armor contributed to his growing feelings, but he still didn't really know her well enough. She had become so attached to him after they escaped the Sea Mauville so it was possible she was liking him for his heroics and not his real self.

Only thing was that he was no hero, just someone who killed the bad guys and guided her out.

May would've probably freaked out if her clothes were wet from a pool, but this time she paid scant attention to it.

Ash didn't.

He found himself fascinated with her already. Her shirt was wet enough that it clung to her back, showing the straps of her white bra. Already the imagination was running and it felt pleasing for him to gently unclasp the restraints for an intimate experience.

No.

"I love it out here. Even if it's not the real ocean, it feels so serene." May whispered.

"The more we can erase the bad memories from your mind the better."

"Is this how you erase bad memories?"

Ash nodded, "There's a variety of ways I use to ease the stress of the day."

"Must get pretty stressful."

"No more than it does for anyone else," May looked at him in disbelief, he was writing off getting shot at and attacked as no more stressful than most others? "However we all have those days."

"Tell me about it," May mused.

Ash saw that the waves were starting to get larger since the generator was expending the last of its energy to recharge, "Well what do you say. Want to catch a wave?"

"Yeah! What do I do?"

"Lie down and enjoy the ride."

"Can I stand up?" She excitedly asked.

"If you feel you're up to it."

Ash suddenly started paddling towards the shallow end of the pool rapidly. The waves began to grow in front of them as they were carried away at a speed faster than his own capability.

They continued to increase in speed when Ash smoothly flexed his legs and stood up, using his feet to steer them at an angle.

May wanted to be just like him, so she gently put her feet down as they made it halfway across the pool. By now, the wave had grown in size, pushing the board just in front while right on their heels.

She felt like a soaring Swellow for just a moment. Then the board wobbled and May lost her balance.

Out of reflex, she grabbed hold of Ash just behind, who was busy trying to correct their trajectory, however he was pulled down with her.

Crashing into the water, her feet found purchase at the pool's bottom roughly five feet deep and she quickly surfaced, coughing from the unexpected fall.

Ash!

Did he know she had accidentally pulled him off the board with her? Was he okay?

He surfaced a few feet to her left and spotted her. Moving over, she had a bit of a worried look on her face.

"Ash, you okay?"

He laughed. It wasn't a chuckle, but one that escalated into a hysterical manner as he finally found a moment to purge all the stress from his mind. "Of course I am!" He managed to stifle through, "I should be asking you that!"

"We fell though. Sorry about that!"

"Sorry?" Ash laughed again, "That happens in surfing. Did you at least enjoy it?"

"Of course I did!" May exclaimed, "That was the most fun I've had in a long time! Even though it wasn't really a full ride y'know? Let's do it again!"

"That's the May I know and love," At this, May blushed, did he say love? "However, they're closing up the place for the day. Besides, I'm pooped." He waded out of the pool and set the surfboard on a rack nearby, "What do you say we go to the Endzone Grill and relax. I can get the rest of my team over there and you can meet the rest of them."

"Okay sure."

* * *

May followed close behind Ash as they headed inside the Endzone Grill & Bar on the southwest side of town. She was instantly captivated by the place. Petalburg was known as a top-tier tourist destination in Hoenn, but the Endzone lacked a touristy atmosphere, instead having a rather local feel with sports gear, TVs and a bar at the left end. Today it was not so crowded, but it would likely be a different story on the weekends and holidays.

He led her to a table where Brendan and Jewell were sitting with two other men that she didn't recognize and two additional empty chairs.

"May, I'd like you to meet the rest of my Jets team. You already know Brendan and Jewell. This is Zack and Damien."

"A pleasure." Zack shook her hand.

Damien introduced himself and then whispered in Ash's ear. He grinned at the small conversation.

The rest of the night went on like Ash had predicted. Burgers and wings for dinner and a couple pitchers of beer later, everyone was talking with one another as if they had known them all for years. All of Ash's team loved May and she loved them.

"I got a pair of tickets to the Broadstone football game this weekend," Jewell held up the pair. "I'd take Damien, but he's a Tentacruel and won't go."

"Damn right I won't." Hammond couldn't wipe the grin off his face, even though she was a fan of the university's bitter rival.

"You like football May?" Ash asked. "Maybe we can go and see a game together."

"Of course I love football! My dad doesn't particularly though, but he tolerates Max on the high school team and I try and go to the game when he's gone."

"What will the tickets cost me?"

Jewell smirked after looking at everyone else, "Another pitcher of beer."

"Deal."

May excused herself to use the bathroom and as she left, the rest of Ash's team leaned in to begin a rather secretive conversation.

"She's a hell of a keeper Ash," Zack remarked, echoing what everyone's thoughts were.

"The fact that you saved her from evil people makes it all the better." Brendan agreed, "Women love a hero man."

"That's the thing," Ash said, "I don't want to rain on the parade, but we have a dangerous job. Besides, she's already someone else's material. I would never do anything to go between her and her boyfriend."

"From what Dawn was saying back at the office the other day, her father and boyfriend aren't very supportive of these new activities she's wanting to do."

"This life we live," Ash continued, "It's unpredictable and if something does happen to me, I don't want to drag her into the mess."

"You never know what might happen," Jewell said, handing Ash the tickets. "Why don't you start on something you both love?"

* * *

 **And I'm back! It's been a little longer than usual and I've been quite a busy man.**

 **Also a shout out to all of you who are following this story! This one is six follows away from tying my most followed story; Soul Flare. Big thanks to all of you for staying faithful in my work.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	18. Chapter 18

Nicknamed the Mightyena's Den, Broadstone University's football stadium was enormous. Located at the edge of campus with the Petalburg downtown skyline visible to the bleachers facing southeast, it was able to fit more than fifty nine thousand people.

Today, the game was highly anticipated, being the Mightyena's home opener against the powerful offense of the University of Mossdeep Rockets and the people of Petalburg loved their football. Since they had no professional football team, they devotedly followed their collegiate teams. Every home game had been sold out of tickets for decades.

Although the game had been a couple days after Jewell had traded Ash her tickets, May took him to a sporting gear store to get him ready. He walked out with a T-shirt of the team's logo along with a cover for his license plate on his car, grumbling about the overpriced sporting merchandise.

They quickly parked their car in one of the parking garages and made their way over to the edge of the stadium. Everyone was dressed in the team's black and silver coloring and in relatively good spirits. Some of the more devout fans had worn more elaborate costumes and typically sat at the sideline of the visiting team's bench to distract them.

From what May had told him, the crowd at the Mightyena's Den was notoriously loud, especially during drives from the visiting team. Other traditions like the fight song could be enough to set anyone else playing against them nervous. On top of that, Broadstone was known for its suffocating defense, often showing dominant performance well throughout the season. It was not uncommon to see at least two Mightyenas selected for an All-Star game and many alumni were selected in professional football teams that were in need of powerful defenders.

The stadium was bowl shaped and Jewell's tickets were set on the second section at the front row on the end, facing west. Thankfully, they both had brought sunglasses to shield their eyes from the harmful rays that shone on that area. The game was set to go into the evening, so it would only be in their faces for part of it.

"And now, the visiting team; Mossdeep Rockets!"

A chorus of Boos and derogatory chants echoed around the stadium as the other team, the orange and white team ran into the field to take their spots at the bench.

"And now," Before the announcer from the press box could even get started, the crowd began to yell, scream, basically getting excited because they knew exactly what was coming. "Your very own Broadstone Mightyenas!"

Now everyone was on their feet, giving off the roar the reverberated through Ash's entire body. May wasn't kidding, it would already be a nightmare to play as a visiting team here and the game hadn't even started.

Speaking of her, he glanced down and saw the girl herself, yelling and cheering on her own favorite team, jumping down excitedly. He would have never guessed that this was the same introverted girl that he rescued aboard a sinking ship less than a week ago.

She was fully into it, the Broadstone's fight song coming on and fully chanting along.

"We will fight! We fight! We fight until we win! Or we lose! And we have not lost yet!"

"We growl! We prowl and we howl!" After this, everyone let out a howl similar to a Mightyena would. The action was high pitched, otherworldly sounding and was more felt than heard. It was also enough to send uncontrollable shivers down Ash's spine, despite the warm climate.

"Yeah I know!" May had to practically shout for him to hear, "That always gets other teams nervous and it chills you!"

"Sure does!"

After tossing the coin, it was Broadstone's turn to start the first drive. The kick returner got maybe thirty yards to their forty yard line before getting tackled. They played well in their drive, obtaining two first downs, but the defense was on its toes, holding them to a field goal.

When the defense came out and began to get into position, the massive screen at the stadium's south side flashed the phrase "GET LOUD!"

At this, the crowd grew into a steady yell, climbing up to where it got deafening and it still continued to get louder. Now Ash and May were joining in the thousands of others adding to the noise factor. The two of them had angry faces while they let out screams that would be heard from well outside the stadium. Ash had already screamed to where his throat was starting to get raw and he assumed that the same would happen to the remainder of fans in attendance. Boy, was he wrong. The only thing that was in the process of burning out were his eardrums!

It was clear the noise was affecting the Rockets' offense, as the first down he had handed it off to the running back, but he was stuffed by the defensive tackle. The second try was for eight yards, however he attempted to pass it to the tight end, however it went incomplete.

"From the thirty six yard line, it's,"

"THIRD DOWN!" The crowd now brought the constant yelling even louder. Upon the snap; Broadstone came with an outside linebacker defense blitz, rushing the quarterback as fast as possible. The pocket collapsed in less than a second and the linebacker with the number of fifty three known as Duncan slammed into the quarterback.

"SAAAACK!" The crowd yelled out, cheering at the loss of the other team. Ash saw the head coach on the Rocket's bench rub his temples in frustration. He probably wasn't the first person to experience an unstoppable defense firsthand. Being fourth down, Mossdeep was forced to punt it away.

This new drive had a wide opening on Broadstone's second down and the quarterback, a kid named Vito had shovel passed it to running back, who juked two players before going open.

"Go! Go, go go go!" Ash shouted as down on the field, the running back crossed the ten yard line and into the endzone a moment later.

"Touchdown!" Upon scoring the crowd howled like before, a high pitched wail that still continued to send chills up Ash's spine. That didn't stop him from joining in.

"Hey didn't your father say that your brother played quarterback for your high school?"

"Yeah, he's trying out for the season."

"Well when he has a chance," Ash said, "I'd like to meet him. I was the star quarterback at my high school and I'm sure he could use a few pointers."

"Of course!"

Ash's eardrums were going to need some rest after a game like this. However, as it continued, the noise was hardly something that garnered his attention. May, sitting beside him had come out of her shell, a rare opportunity and he enjoyed every moment here with her.

* * *

After the game, Ash and May headed out to their car and pulled out of the garage to head home. The Mightyenas had another stellar defensive performance and despite the Rockets' hard-pressing offense, Broadstone came away with the win at 30-24.

"That was really fun!" May said when Ash sped onto the highway, heading south towards their home. "You got any big plans for tomorrow?"

"Work of course. Hoenn's wanting us to start cracking down on the group that kidnapped you and we'll be going after one of Harley's lieutenants tomorrow, or at least gathering intel on his whereabouts."

"Be safe okay?"

"Of course." Ash smiled when she had put her hand on his shoulder in a caring manner.

"You busy tomorrow?"

"I go back to school yeah, but other than that, no. Why?"

Ash looked at her, "You told me you wanted to learn how to take care of yourself if you get into another life-threatening situation right?"

"Yeah."

"Well when we're both off tomorrow evening, meet me at the gym. I'll teach you a few self-defense moves."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would."

As Ash pulled up to May's house, the gate had been shut. She hopped out the shotgun seat and went over to the driver's side to punch in a 4 digit code. A moment later, the door to her large house opened up and a middle aged man jogged to the entrance. He was solidly built, had a full beard and a blue bandanna over his head with an odd circular symbol. He didn't look too happy to see the car.

"Hey Archie." May greeted.

"May," His hard expression softened, "Good to see you. I just remained behind in case you got home late."

"Thanks. How's your cousin Shelly doing?"

"Just fine," He hit a button on his side of the gate and punched in another code, "This the Ash man you were telling me about?"

"Yeah, he's good."

"Archie," The man shook Ash's as he rolled into the property, "I hear you head the Jets police force."

"Yes sir, served in the Federation for five years before transferring out here."

"Ah, I used to head security in the Weather Institute close to Fortree." He talked in a manner on how two professional fighters talked their resumes over a drink with one another.

"Neat."

Archie gestured to the pads behind, "You're probably going to be a frequent visitor in the future, since the security for the gate requires an Alpha clearance meaning May, Norman, Max or myself. I'll be setting you up with a guest profile as well as one opening for you to leave tonight." He looked over at May, "I'm sailing off, you two have a good night."

"Good night Archie." May waved as Ash rolled into the roundabout of their house. He saw a rather expensive fountain in the center that had been shut off. When exiting his car, he caught the scent of freshly cut grass with the lawn stretching a good portion of land in front, lined at the circle drive with gardens.

"Nice guy," Ash commented.

"He takes care of just about everything in the house and heads up security as well. Not really a sociable kind of guy but he's been a close friend of ours since he was hired a few years back."

"What's with the cousin Shelly thing?" He asked. The question seemed casual, but he couldn't help but feel that there was some hidden meaning to it.

"Code that our family does for protection reasons. Since a lot of sensitive info about my father's company can be accessed here, we have to take precautions. Archie takes care of two of his cousins and had I asked about his other one, Matt at the front; he would know that I was being held hostage and under duress."

"And you never bothered to ask me that when I came to your rescue?"

He got a light punch in the arm in response.

May took a key from her pocket and opened the door, allowing Ash inside after her.

"Where do you live?"

"Just off the south 104 highway. It's probably a quarter of the size of your place."

"You like it?" May asked. "Considering you swim a lot, you should get one by the ocean."

"I did. It's my backyard."

"I'd like to come see it sometime."

"And you will." Ash looked around the foyer, the place had a lot of Kalosian influences with richly painted walls and a beige tile floor. Some expensive paintings lined the sides that led into a room on the right, the front and to the left that split off into a second corridor towards the garage and a two leveled staircase. Even though Ash didn't like Norman already, he had to admit the man had good taste when it came to home decorating. Good taste as in expensive. One looked it could go for nine thousand.

"This way," May led him into the kitchen in the center way. To the right of the entrance was a locked double door set that closed off access to an expensive mahogany desk that had a computer and several file cabinets. Along the neat table were a couple of antique decorations that seemed to be Sinnoh in origin. "Ash, there's no need to be cautious. My dad's not here so make yourself at home."

The kitchen was a mix of dark brown marble and stainless steel with a long counter separating a large twin door fridge and a second prep counter by a six burner stove. On the opposite side of the island counter were four high raised chairs and on the left was a dining table that held a breathtaking view of the night sky of Petalburg. Since they lived atop an elevated hill along with several other large houses, several downtown skyscrapers could be seen and Ash could see the highway that led to his neighborhood.

"May, you're finally home! I was starting to think you were dead!"

"MAX!" May cried to her little brother, "Why do you have to think that? I was just at a football game!"

"I was watching it on TV! The way wide receiver Cullen had jumped over that cornerback to catch that mistimed pass to score was amazing!" Max rounded the corner and stopped at the sight of Ash. Part of him recoiled since he was significantly larger and was let in seemingly without authorization. However, part of him looked familiar.

"Hi Max," Ash guessed that the kid was either a junior or senior in high school. Despite his age, he showed no signs of any facial hair growth. His black hair ran a little long and his wire rimmed glasses had lenses that seemed a bit large. He had a pretty slim build, but Ash sawn hints that his athleticism was starting to emerge.

"Max, this is,"

"Ash Ketchum! You lead the Jets crime fighting and urban warfare task force! I saw you with May on TV!" His eyes lit up in excitement, "Thank you so much for rescuing my sister! Even though she can sometimes be a complete embarrassment when she's scared and- Ouch!" He flinched as May slapped his side, "MAY!"

Before he could retort at his sister, Ash butted in, hoping to avoid a quarrel, "So I hear that you want to play quarterback. What do you play now?"

"Yeah." Max still couldn't get over the fact that a hero was inside his house, "Um wide receiver, but Coach Baldwin has me benched as the number four."

"Your coach giving you a tryout?"

"Well our starting quarterback went down with a knee injury last game, so he's opening up the position for anyone. I'm set to tryout, but I'm nervous."

"You want to go through with it right?"

"Yeah but-"

"Don't put any buts to your goals," Ash stated, "You do that, it's just like giving up with more effort. Why would you waste the effort on something you're reluctant to even commit to anyway?"

"I don't mean-"

"This opportunity has just fallen in your lap. I suggest you take full advantage of it and prove to the coach that you don't belong on the sidelines, warming the bench."

"I've read books about how to be a successful signal caller, but I don't feel confident."

Ash nodded, "I was like that too. All the preparation and reading." When Max's eyes perked up in interest, he went on; "I was the star quarterback at my high school. My journey wasn't by preparation and when the quarterback that was supposed to start in front of me didn't show, coach turned to myself and said; "Kid, you're up. Go score us a touchdown." I had zero time making plays and went with my gut instinct. When I went on the field, the real thing was close to nothing like what I've read and simulated in practice, but I stuck with it, continuing to learn from my errors and capitalize on my successes. Now we didn't win that game, but I was still offered to continue playing. The reason was because I had potential. Now Max, I'm not saying you're going to become a star overnight, but the way you do become one is by experience. Your coach is opening the door for you to start getting that experience and if you win the starting position, you'll get plenty. But you have to impress first."

"How would I impress?"

"Grab a football and meet me in the backyard."

* * *

Ten minutes later, with the lights overlooking their backyard pool on, Ash and Max were in the middle of the grassy field with both men huddled together.

May sat on the porch, watching as both men talked amongst themselves.

"Those safeties out there are always something you need to keep an eye on. They're the last line of defense in case any of your receivers get open and sometimes they'll be instructed to-" She was interrupted from listening when her phone rang. It was Dawn.

"Hey."

"Hey lover girl." Dawn teasingly said, "How was the game?"

"Was fun! Ash loved it! If we get our hands on another pair of tickets we are definitely going!"

"See what I mean when you just be yourself and spend time with him? Has he invited you to hang out with him later?"

"Yeah, we're going to the gym and he's going to teach me some defense moves tomorrow."

"Ooh," Dawn cooed, "Better wear that sexy blue tank top you got from the mall! Then you'll have to use those moves to stop him from coming after you!"

"Stop that Dawn! That's silly!"

"No, it's not." She shot back, "May, I guess I have to remind you again that this man means something different to you than anyone else. You've probably never felt this way with Drew. If that's not a dead giveaway that he could be your soulmate, then I don't know how else. Seriously, if you're still unsure if he really likes you, wear something that will catch his attention. What bad could come out of it?"

"He could assault me!" May said.

"Ash doesn't strike me as the one to assault somebody without provocation, despite everything I said. You on the other hand, have to make the first move! Trust me!" Dawn cooed, "When you two are alone on that mat, you're going to be in close contact. So when he's talking to you, look at him in the eyes and you have to feel more comfortable with his loose clothing. Trust me, that's when you go for the tackling him into the floor and go tongue wrestling!"

* * *

 **Timing has other things in store for Ash and May though. He's going to be very busy.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	19. Chapter 19

The lights over the warehouse cast an orange glow in the night as trucks headed out for their runs to the other towns to deliver goods.

This hub was located on the north side of Petalburg, close to two highways that branched east and north towards the other towns. While it was far from the dockyards, this truckyard was instrumental in importation and exportation of goods to and from the metro.

However, heading a bit further north up an old drive was a smaller abandoned warehouse that was no longer in use by the hub. Neglected, it began to deteriorate quickly and its location off the beaten path quickly phased it out of the attention of most people.

Now it sat with the highway as a backdrop, seemingly empty.

That wasn't the case.

"We got at least a dozen heat signatures congregated around the warehouse's center." Damien returned to their armored vehicle that was parked a ways in the brush. They had taken the approach through the dense growth and set up observations.

At daytime, the warehouse seemed just like any other abandoned place, however when the sun went down, a new flurry of activity occurred where prying eyes were unwelcome.

A Petalburg police officer had come across the place when realizing that it was being used as a way station for the Cacturne Syndicate's drug trafficking. From the warehouse, illegal narcotics went to lower down dealers all across Petalburg.

When it came to drug use, Hoenn was fairly strict, harshly responding to violators, but the decline of effectiveness in both law enforcement and militaristic options have allowed contraband to start get out of control.

This was one of the reasons the Jets were sworn in as a special task force with both Federation and Hoenn operatives in the new era to ensure that both nations made a statement; drugs used illegally will not be tolerated.

"Still got eyes on the guard?"

"He's over at the northwest corner taking a piss," Jewell crisply replied.

"Can't believe that the magazine wants us on the cover." Damien added. Earlier that day, due to the Jets' successes against the Syndicate, Hoenn's top magazine had designated them to be on the cover for the next edition of their triannual release. The photo shoot was supposed to be tomorrow after their operation.

Ash was far from pleased. While he did appreciate that the magazine was giving them publicity, it was in the wrong way. They were going to be portrayed as celebrities, people who were heroes, but at the same time everyone else would look at them like movie stars.

None of them were happy about it either, but it was inevitable. They were just a group of men and a woman who were responsible for the protection of Hoenn citizens both domestic and abroad. There was nothing to glamourize, in fact; it was something the public should never put in a spotlight.

The people of Hoenn had never been exposed to the reality war on a front doorstep. Even Ash's fellow operatives agreed that of all generations, they believed that armed conflict was something of fantasy, occurring in faraway lands, never to be brought to the island nation's shores. Unfortunately for them, for such a motif to disappear, a shooting disputation would have to occur.

All five of them were clad in their sleek dark undersuits with a black bullet proof harness over their upper bodies. Ash wore his normal cargo jeans with extra pockets to fit additional gear. Atop their heads was an elastic band that encumbered their crown and held a pair of optics suited for night electronic assistance. They carried their new X95 carbines and P226 sidearms. All of them had Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight optic on the top rail and a side mounted laser sight that produced a visible line to the others to indicate where the weapon was being aimed.

"Let's move." Ash tapped Brendan and Damien as they slowly made their way to the edge of the treeline. By now the guard had finished his leak and began to head back inside. They bided their time and waited until the door was shut.

"Zack, how are we on the power?"

"Working on it," Over to the warehouse's back side, Zack Arron was shaping a tiny explosive to cut through and disrupt the power supply running inside the warehouse.

"Head to the closest door and be ready to breach on my mark when you're finished."

"I'm on it."

Moving to the side entrance, Ash eased the door open covered by Damien and peered inside.

Sure enough there were about a dozen armed hostiles inside, some patrolling, others talking congregated around a lit table in the center. He couldn't see what was on it, but it hardly mattered.

Turning to his two compatriots, his free left hand erupted into a flurry of signals. To the untrained eye, it seemed as if he was doing sign language at a rapid pace, but both men knew that he was saying roughly. Ten men, two on the left. Three center, five unknown. We will flush the remainder out towards the front of the building.

"In position." Zack confirmed a moment later. He would enter the fray a moment after the three of them would make their presence known.

"Let's turn out the lights."

Over on his side, Arron thumbed a detonator and clicked to send the signal.

Inside the building, the explosion that was precisely set to destroy the power to the building was barely heard, but the moment the electricity had been severed, the lights snapped off.

"What the hell?" One man automatically voiced what everyone was inquiring.

Back outside, Ash tapped Damien and Brendan on their shoulders before throwing open the doors. Their night vision goggles were already on and through them, they saw the lasers emitting from their weapons, crisscrossing through the darkness.

The five men that they saw were still in the midst of reacting when Ash and Brendan swept left, aiming precisely at them and firing short bursts. Their gunshots were muffled by suppressors.

To their left on the opposite side, Zack made his entrance. "Five tangos at the far corner."

He fired a few shots, "One down!"

More gunshots erupted, since the Syndicate wasn't using muzzle suppressors or anything to hide the flash, the temporary burst of light had nearly overwhelmed the Jets. As bullets whizzed overhead, they all ducked behind cover.

By the way they were firing; the Syndicate didn't have any means of night vision and were using the flash of the muzzle to locate where their attackers were.

"Smoke now!" Ash commanded.

"Smoke out!" The other three had primed cylindrical canisters and tossed them in their direction. Within seconds, a screen of green colored smoke through their lenses began to billow.

"Gah, smoke!" One of them cried out while firing blindly. This time, the flashes were not as assaulting on their instruments as previous, "We gotta get out of here!"

Damien and Zack raised their weapons and fired into the smoke as the bad guys retreated. They broke cover and got to work, examining the contraband on the tables that the men were guarding.

"Jewell, they're heading your way."

"On it."

As Ash and Brendan pursued them to the entrance where the lights from outside shone on them. Now visible, the men began shooting in their direction. The bullets punched straight through the thin metal. All four of them automatically ducked.

The five men had taken cover behind a pair of vans in front of the warehouse when one of them suddenly stiffened and fell flat against the side with smoke trailing from a neat bullet hole in his back.

The men realized that they had been funneled towards that area so that the sniper would take them as easy targets.

Ash was beginning to move towards them with his sights aimed at the corner. "Nowhere to run! Drop your weapons!"

Three of them saw the futility of the situation and dropped their weapons. The fourth one sensed the approach of Brendan on the van's right side and aimed his weapon at the figure coming around the corner.

Ash saw him and let out a burst from his X95 that went not six inches away from the gunman, "Don't try it."

"Okay okay." He laid down his rifle and raised his hands in the air.

Five minutes later with armed police readying the captured for transport on the Jet's orders, Ash and Brendan headed to join everyone else around the center table. The warehouse was experiencing more activity tonight than it was for whatever years it was abandoned and crumbling.

"Shit," Ash nearly threw down his rifle in frustration. Tonight he was supposed to take May to the gym for him to teach her self-defense. He had completely forgotten and had never told her that he was partaking in an operation against the Syndicate this late. He had originally thought that it was going to be a midday thing, but instead the top brass had pushed it past midnight to lessen attention and make the strike at the time when the human brain was least active, close to 2 in the morning.

"Intel has been verified," Brendan brought him out of his thoughts, "We're going to be hot on the trail of one of Harley's lieutenants."

When Ash didn't respond, Decker took a closer look. He was just standing there with a blank expression on his face. "You okay man?"

"Yeah," He looked back, "I'll be fine. C'mon, let's get this done so I can go to sleep."

* * *

The floor of the gym was empty save for the two of them. Ash had this time, made a promise the day afterwards and stayed true to his word, picking her up after class and driving over.

For forty minutes, May and Ash worked out on the various machines on the place's upper floor before they went down to the mats close to the basketball court and rock wall.

May wore her tank top like Dawn had suggested and white basketball shorts. The former clung close to her slim figure and she was trying not to blush when Ash's gaze on her was a bit longer than normal.

At the same time, she couldn't tear her eyes off him. He wore a tank top too, but instead it was an olive green drab with the face of a Houndoom on the front. Just below it was the insignia of the Federation Commandos. The clothing fit him perfectly, but did nothing to hide the sculpted chest underneath.

May was busy perfecting her strikes on a nearby punching bag while Ash took a quick restroom break. He came back to see her landing several punches on the dummy bust of a man.

"Hey," She halted upon hearing his greeting and return, "I was watching you." He moved beside her, "Your hits are good and quick, and you've got good technique."

"Thanks," May smiled at his praise.

"But you're lacking strength."

"What?"

"You're not putting any power behind those punches. Sure, you're hitting right on the mark, but if you don't use your strength, you're just wasting energy. Here," He moved behind her and took her smaller arm in his hand, "When you're striking your target, move into the hit, put more of your weight behind you, lean into it so that you'll have additional power behind it." He tapped the knuckles on her index and middle fingers, "These knuckles are what you should be hitting with. You know what the most sensitive part is on the human face?"

"The eyes?" May asked.

"Nope." He tapped the bridge, "It's the nose, although in a life or death situation, you go for anything. Nose, eyes, mouth…stomach, whatever you can do to stun, disorient them."

Ash gestured to the dummy, "Show me."

May tightened her fist and got into the stance he had showed her earlier. This time, she did as he instructed and upon impact, the dummy was pushed significantly enough to tip over and settle back upright with the sand inside the base heard shifting about.

"Well that's a start." He chuckled before reaching inside his duffel bag and pulling out a pair of boxing gloves. "Put these on."

She felt the loops where her fingers were set and eased them onto her hands. The frame caused them to partially form them into fists.

Ash held up a black pad the resembled a big shield and positioned one foot in front of the other in sort of a defensive stance. "Alright, let's begin."

For ninety minutes, the two of them worked up a sweat as Ash taught her seven different types each of hand strikes, kicks and blocks. Sometimes Ash had May hold the pad as he performed combinations of all three. Even though he was not using his full strength, his speed was astounding.

Much of the Commandos' hand to hand combat training stemmed from the native fighting styles of Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, with kicks and punches respectively. Even though each had seven basics, there were many more variations and the exercises done while they were in training were brutal with sparring sessions twice as much. Ash has told her a story in his class on how the primary instructor, a ninjalike man named Koga had laid out sort of a syllabus on their training regimen. One rather cocky trainee who had a background in martial arts prior to coming into the military was bragging on the two black belts he had earned in the course of a year. Koga, eager to assess a so called "star pupil" asked for a brief sparring to demonstrate how far ahead he was of everyone else. The trainee found the older man to be decades younger in physical terms, knocking him around almost in a toying manner while evading every attempt to retaliate.

Koga made the kid look as if he was moving in slow motion. The hand to hand courses was introduced a couple weeks into the Commando regimen and the cocky guy lasted one more week before ringing the bell; a traditional signal that someone voluntarily withdrew from the program.

"There goes another one," Gary would say while they were lying in the barracks. During their four month training regimen, more than a dozen had dropped out and these men had at least two years of service within other units in the Federation.

"Really?" May was surprised, but not at the same time, "Of your class, only eight of you passed and were assigned?"

Ash nodded, "You know Commando training is considered one of the most difficult units to get in? It's not just a physical test of how strong you are, it also puts a lot of strain mentally and emotionally. There are people who are able to balance all three and keep them in check and those are the ones who make the cut."

"Did you get cut?" May asked, even though the answer was as clear as day.

"First time Gary and I applied, we were deemed too inexperienced, so we had undergone an additional tour abroad and then managed to get in. You know the rest of the story."

"I'd love to hear about more of it."

"I'd be happy to tell you," Ash stripped off the pad and his gloves, "C'mon, I'm going to shower. Want to head back to your place?"

"Sure."

He accepted the gloves from her and slipped them inside the duffel bag, "Meet you in the front."

* * *

 **So more on Ash's grueling tests to become a Commando as well as him kicking some bad guy ass and teaching May how to defend herself. This was a good chapter.**

 **Other than getting excited about E3, watching the MLB all-star game, working and waiting for games to be released (NFL season + Halo5) I'll be traveling the next couple of days, but I am bringing my computer with me and will have spare time to write. Expect the next chapter early to mid next week.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	20. Chapter 20

"That's exactly what they said," Ash continued, "We will grind you into fine powdery dust. By the time a week had elapsed, all of our legs and arms felt weak. I was a star athlete from high school and maintained excellent shape in the army, but nothing prepared me for stuff like this."

He and May were at her house on the back porch sitting in comfortable chairs and overlooking the pink skyline of Petalburg. The two opted for a quick dinner after the gym and spent it talking much about their personal lives before settling outside in the cooling weather with frothy margaritas that May had declared to be the best in the world. She wasn't kidding. A week before, Ash would have been more reluctant to disclose the stuff, but he had grown so attracted to May, it was almost as if he was talking to Gary or his mother. Since her father and Drew were returning the day after tomorrow from their trip and Max was at his high school's weekend football camp, she had the place to herself and while alone it felt extremely lonely. Ergo, she was more than happy to have Ash over. When he heard about her project in International Relations, he quickly obliged on being the interviewee. It took her over dinner to think of the questions, but she had slapped it together to appear neat and would relay his answers on a fancy slideshow presentation on the computer.

"So what came first?"

"I'm not allowed to say the more intricate things," Ash responded, "But I will tell you the basics and pretty much the first part of our training. In the four month course, there are over two hundred applicants and they are all screened and tested. In my class, that cut had eliminated three quarters of all them total. The process was grueling, repetitive and irritating, so we were all relieved to hear that we had passed minutes after finishing."

May let out a low whistle.

"That's not even half of it. The Commando's commanding officer, a guy named Surge had told us even though we had passed those tests, there were no congratulatory remarks, as it was just the bare minimum that we were being considered for proper training."

"They really meant it that way?"

"Oh yeah," Ash sipped his drink, "They sure did. The majority of the stuff was about the same. Morning warm-ups at five in the morning, followed by Koga beating us up on the mats, to knowledge about warfare in general and then more things with Koga before dinner and then taps at ten. The cycle repeated pretty much every day for months on end."

"Koga sounds like the primary reason people decided to quit, given your earlier story."

"Damn right, he was just as strict as some of our drill instructors. Even worse. A lot of trainees hated him."

"Did you like him?" May asked.

"When we first started? Hell no. I don't think there was ever a guy in our class who did. However over time, I still continued to dislike him, but more of the things he taught began to make sense and much of it even applies to stuff that I do today. Needless to say, he's definitely something you have to go through with in order to succeed."

"Sounds like you had a fun job."

"I wouldn't call it fun," Ash replied, "The duty is a serious one and the regulations are a lot different than other units."

"Such as?"

"Fraternization."

"I've heard that term before,"

"Indeed," Ash said, "Federation's military laws prohibit extensive fraternization in its ranks, although the Commandos report to its Special Warfare Division that is different than the standard branches. We're allowed to bond with one another to increase mission performance. However they are still quite strict and encourage us to fraternize at our own risk."

"Why are the Commando's different?"

"When you're deep into enemy territory in a four man team, you MUST count on the other three to watch your back. Each other one is going to be doing the same. They are your backup and you are theirs. Your brother in arms may be the only thing standing between you and a pistol pointed at your temple."

"I can see why it's not enjoyed by the military," May was jotting things down in a notepad, "From the standpoint of a military leader; it can compromise your operation."

"You're thinking like a general already," Ash joked, causing the brunette to giggle. "But it's true that people you know and fought alongside will do better. Who'd you take into a firefight? Three people under your command that've been with you to hell and back? Or a group of anonymous transfers that you've never seen before? I've had to do both."

"What's your opinion on how the Federation's cooperation with Hoenn?"

Ash cupped his chin before looking back at her, "I think it's great. Hoenn needs to have some allies both economically and militaristically and having a powerful friend like the KJ Federation will give them some reassurance that any affairs they stumble into, they won't be alone. No offense to your country, but Hoenn's military is quite behind on both equipment and training of its forces, so this partnership on a military viewpoint is a good thing. Look at the Jets, a local Petalburg based countrywide crime fighting task force, I've modeled them on how I operated my Commandos and we've graced the cover of Hoenn's most popular magazine before we are even three weeks old. Then again," He patted the Commando logo on his tanktop, "I might be a little biased too."

May's had hurt from writing so much information that she shook it to ease out the soreness once she had finished writing. There was more than enough information from probably the most reliable source available and she hadn't had to use one of the chat rooms that her professor had provided.

"Any more questions?"

"Not that I can think of," May stood up and extended her hand out, "Thank you so much for joining me."

"Anytime Miss Maple," He shook it before clasping his palms together and curtly bowing, "Anytime."

Looking at the clock, Ash realized it was nearly midnight, "Shit, I was not even looking at the time. I better get going."

"No," May yawned, sleepily moaning, "Don't go."

"You forget that I have to work tomorrow. I can't just keep Brendan commanding the team."

"Make him team leader,"

He wasn't sure if she was joking or not, "Than aside from you, I have no further purpose here."

"I didn't mean it like that. Come upstairs, stay with me tonight."

Immediately in Ash's head a red flag suddenly flared. It seemed like it was an invitation to go and sleep with her. His morals clashed with his personal desire and he last thought back when he had last satisfied his needs…no…his lust. He came up empty. There was hardly ever a time where he put himself above anyone else for his own personal desire.

May had fallen asleep in her chair, so Ash gently cradled her in his arms and made his way inside her house. Her bedroom was easy to find and he had to admit that he was jealous of her king sized bed. It was just like a fantasy one where the royal family would doze off. It looked to be nearly one and a half times a standard king one.

He had to remind himself that both had quite a bit to drink and there was no way he was going to take any advantage of that. Seeing her so serene and peaceful gave him a protective feeling, almost as if it was this May that Norman was trying to protect. A sweet and innocent virgin that was unaware of the true nature of how the world was. Any other man would have instantly taken her up on the offer, at least what it would mean to them.

"How about after we finish our work and school," He proposed, "We go for a little fun in the sun? I'll get Brendan to bring us a surprise and we can have dinner in a place you've never been before?"

May sleepily nodded, although he wasn't sure if she had heard him or not.

"Stay with me? Don't leave me." She murmured, barely conscious.

Ash took her delicate hand into his and placed his lips gently on her knuckles, "I won't ever leave you. I'd love to stay. But I'm not going to."

She was aware of what she had said and wondered if hanging around Dawn and Ash had rubbed off on her. It was clear that it wasn't because of her and he had said no because it was not the right time. Once again, both of them were trying to suppress the very active hormones inside their bodies.

"Just stay for a while?"

That he could do. "Of course."

He was uncertain that she would be fussy about his tanktop that he had worn and sweat in at the gym, but decided it wasn't the best thing to ask.

Easing himself into the bed, he gently spooned her, wrapping his arms around her hourglass figure from behind. Both of them stayed perfectly still and he watched as her breathing slowed down to a regular sleeping pace.

"Sweet dreams May." Ash took her hand and planted a kiss on her knuckles before exiting and standing up. Making sure the alarm would be armed once he left, he checked on her one last time.

"Ash."

As he was just out the door his ears barely heard his name. It was barely below a whisper. He glanced over, seeing May clutching the pillow tightly, a faint trace of a smile over her beautiful face.

It was well worthy of him to smile at that.

* * *

 **Aww, aren't they cute together?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	21. Chapter 21

At the sound of Ash's car approaching, May bounded out the door to see him conversing with Archie. He had arrived almost precisely at four in the afternoon, a fact that she had quickly noted about him. His punctuality was close to being flawless.

"Alright, you two have a good time." Archie waved them off as they closed the window and made their way out onto the road.

"So I still don't know why you asked me to wear a swimsuit." May said, forgoing a greeting.

"Unless you want to get your regular clothes wet, I suggest you do what I say."

"What are we doing? More surfing?"

"Nope," Ash gave her a feisty grin, "Something that I haven't done in a long time."

* * *

May screamed, clutching Ash tighter as he powered the purple and white jet ski over the next wave, going airborne several feet. Behind them, Brendan replicated their move, landing beside them with a huge splash.

"Here we go! Last set of waves before we reach our destination!" Ash yelled out, his voice was barely audible over the droning of their motor.

He gunned the throttle, leaning to his left as they turned. May used one hand to hold onto him and the other to skim the surface of the ocean. Today the sun sparkled off the edge and it had a deep sapphire glow, a perfect day for out on the ocean.

Every time they went over a wave, May found herself holding onto Ash a little tighter. It wasn't just because she had to in risk of falling off, but more like she wanted to.

Eventually they had passed breaker waves and eased out to a wooden platform that acted as a dock. The island was just off Petalburg's coast and featured long sandbars for boaters to enjoy away from the packed ones that were west of the city.

"Well?" Ash asked as he dismounted and began to tie a rope.

"That was…AMAZING!" May squealed, "That was the most fun I've ever had and it was only half the trip!"

"You did great May!" Brendan gave her a fist bump, "Ash and I were afraid that this was too much for you to handle at once, but you proved both of us wrong!"

"I really thought we were going to flip over and capsize!"

"Girl you rode it like a man. And that's a compliment!"

"Anyone hungry?" Ash asked, "Better get dinner started."

"What is dinner?" May wondered aloud.

"Somewhere in the ocean swimming." Brendan replied, handing Ash a fishing rod with another in his hand. "Get that cooler on the back of my ride. There's beer in there."

For several hours, the three of them talked about everything from friends, past experiences and hilarious stories in general.

A part in their time on the beach, Brendan saw his brightly lit floating bobber dip and he was on his feet, wrestling and the look on his face told them that the fish they hooked was going to be one they would have to haul in with quite a lot of strength.

"Oh man!" He growled, "Dinner's a fighter today!"

"You got it bro!" Ash cheered with May echoing his encouragement.

Brendan was going to bide his time in letting the catch wear itself down and reeling it slowly towards him. Even after several minutes, it continued to struggle, pulling on the line with enough force for him to get up.

"This ends now!" Decker furiously winded the reel, rapidly bringing it closer and closer. Had he done so too quickly, the hook inside the fish's mouth would had broken off and their catch gotten away. The trick was to tire it down enough to bring it back to them without giving it a chance to fight back. However there were many fishermen who fished for the enjoyment of their catch struggling. The battle was what had provided the true fun for them.

"Ahh!" Brendan finally heaved it out of the water, an enormous thrashing Basculin fish.

Ash ran over and scooped it up with the net before removing the hook from its jaws. Basculin were fish that seldom were seen in Hoenn, but could be sighted in its warmer south waters. Most of the time, the fish came in a red and blue subspecies. Both of them did not get along with one another and territory fights between the schools were common.

They were also very tasty.

Working quickly, Ash put the fish down and then started on gutting and skinning it. Both May and Brendan were easily impressed on how quick and efficiently he did it. Using the cooler they brought, he mixed together multiple spices and ingredients into a bowl and marinated the fish inside. As he was doing that, he looked behind to see both of them slacking with beers in hand.

"Hey, make yourselves useful and build a fire. Unless you want to eat raw fish."

Ten minutes later the three of them dug into a juicy fish with a fresh salad and fruit. Sitting around a crackling fire, it provided them with warmth to combat the breeze. The sun was beginning to put an orange glow across the sky.

"I think you should take the lead back," Ash suggested as they began to clean up. Brendan dumped the remainder of their water over the dying fire and scooped sand over the pit to cover and burn out the embers, "The waves can get quite large and since I have precious cargo with me, I don't want to take it too fast."

"I agree."

Ash saw May's eyes widen in a trace of fear and he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. They're not going to be much bigger than the ones we encountered."

"You live a lot of danger huh?"

"Danger's for the bad guys," Brendan affirmed, "Of course there's going to be worry about someone on such a dangerous job like ours, my wife knows it well. Then again, we have Ash as our boss and he's run our task force better than any CO I've ever worked with."

"Plus I got Zack, Damien and Jewell to watch my back. Trust them with my life."

"No wonder you guys love doing your work," May said, "You get to hang out with your best friends all day!"

"It has its perks," Ash strapped the cooler onto the back of Brendan's ski, "When you bond like a family, you'll work like one."

This was the kind of extended family that May was searching for. Last time she would go along with Max and her father to a family reunion, they would rent an enormous yacht, traveling into the open ocean where the party with nearly seventy individuals would last for hours. It was almost banquet style, with multiple round tables outside on the stern with a stage area up front. While some of the people in attendance were her aunts and uncles, many of them like Drew were also there related to Norman via business. Partners, managers, people he was trying to court in hopes of future contracts and endeavors. Many of them apparently knew May since she was a little girl. There were only a few kids during these gatherings and they were barely past their toddler stage. Therefore, she and Max had just about nobody else in their age group and she spent her time in her room, trying to talk to Dawn or her other friends. Her father would come up and drag her back down to socialize. They'd come up and give her hugs, reminiscing on how it had been decades since they last met while at the same time, May would still be wondering who the hell the person was and how they did know her.

This kind of close knit family, albeit smaller was something May had wanted to have for a long time. Spending more and more time with Ash started making that subtle aspiration a reality.

* * *

After putting the Jet skis back on Brendan's ride, they waved goodbye and drove in the same direction a couple minutes later.

"How was that?" Ash asked.

"Holy hell is was super fun!" May squealed, "We have to go again!"

He chuckled, "Yeah it is, but we do have priorities. You've got your presentation in a couple days and I have to work. But I will take you up on your request for another day."

"Okay."

* * *

Ash looked down at his display and waited until another exit came into view. At this time in the night, traffic was surprisingly low. "Mind if I get some gas and a quick pit stop?"

"Yeah sure."

He rolled into one of the stalls and hopped out, "Stay here."

May's phone rang just as he began filling up the car's tank and walked inside the station to look for a restroom.

"Hello?"

"May," Her father's voice sounded steely rigid, but also concerned.

"Hi dad, how's your trip in Unova?"

"Where are you?" His stern voice was steely and carried ill-concealed concern, "I've been trying to track and get ahold of you for the past four hours."

She had forgotten that Maple Software's operating system on her cell phone was capable of tracking others via friend linking. It could relay new signals to one another every thirty seconds. She was likely out of signal range and thus couldn't be tracked. That was likely the only way to avoid it, other than disabling its GPS or shutting the device off entirely.

"I'm at Dawn's." She lied, half hoping he would buy it.

"May," The "You're lying" voice said on the other end, "Don't lie to me. You're with Ash. Aren't you?"

There was no point in trying to talk out of the lie, since she had been made. "Yeah, so what are you going to do about it? Did you make Archie follow me?"

"As soon as I saw you on the highway going opposite where you normally go and relayed him directions. Listen to me May, I don't want you to be around him. What if Drew found out? How do you think he would feel?"

"Do you not like Ash's job? Or is it him? He's a great guy! Can't you just give him a chance?"

"Absolutely not! Drew is who you belong with! He can take proper care of you! This so called Commando can not! Let me guess, he tells you that his job is fun and he enjoys doing it?"

"Ash has devoted his life to the military and protection of people who can't protect themselves!"

"That also means killing people. Ash is a killer and you need to know that! I want you to stop seeing him!"

"Why? Because he hunts bad people? Stop talking about him like he's heartless! You don't understand."

"I understand very well May. Stop seeing him. As soon as he drives you home, I am ordering Archie to erase his guest entry into our house and that will be the last time you two see each other. Understand?"

"No!"

"I suggest you don't push me," Norman warned, "I know what's best for you."

"Don't you push me." May snapped angrily back, "Do whatever you like, kick me out of the house if you have to, but I'm not severing my time with him! He's a sweet guy."

"And a cold-blooded killer!"

"He is not!"

"May! Ash underwent Commando training and they go through multiple final tests to prove they are worthy! One of those tests is compliance with orders from one's superior. They go inside an isolated room, just them and a prisoner of the state. Only one person comes out and I'll give you a hint…it's not the prisoner."

She was definitely stunned by the information bombshell dropped on her, but what should have been more surprising is how he was aware of it. Most Commando training Ash had told her was classified.

"Ash didn't tell you that, I take it." His attitude became more civil as the anger cooled off, "May, I'm worried about you. Drew's worried about you. All you're feeling for Ash is natural, he saved your life. I understand it. I really do, but he's probably taking you out on dangerous activities! You are going to end up hurt!"

"You call teaching me how to defend myself dangerous? Then you'll be happy to hear that I went with him on a Jet ski today! Just so you know, it's just the beginning." She saw Ash coming out of the door after paying the attendant. "I have to go dad, I love you."

She hung up just as Norman was about to protest. Never had May done such a tension filled conversation with her father. Of course she loved him, but his stubbornness had decided to be extremely thick recently and it was starting to become irritating.

Her thoughts drifted back to that test that he had done. Was Ash really a cold-blooded killer? His final test meant complying orders to kill…no execute an unarmed person with no eyewitnesses, the exact formula to a murderer.

There had to be a way to not hurt him, but there was no way she was going to just drop her relationship with Ash. She was falling in love with him. Even though her father revealed a shocking secret, her attraction and love towards the man were prevailing. No part of it was because he had saved her, it was for who he was as a person.

Ash opened the door to the driver's seat, "Alright, let's go home." He turned and saw May wiping away tears that stained her face, "May, you alright?"

She nodded, but didn't reply.

"May, what's wrong?" He repeated.

"I…" She stammered, "I like being with you…No, I love being with you."

"May?" He was a little puzzled on why she was so sad, but still clasped her hand in his.

"What we did today out in the ocean…I want more of that. No more…No more just sitting down and reading about an adventure. I want to experience it for myself!"

May continued crying, so Ash grabbed a spare towel and used it to dry her puffy eyes, "You want to go on a jet ski again or wave riding. I'll take you. The possibilities of things to experience are endless. Life's short! Yes, there may be things you can't do alone, but we can do it together! There are going to be trying times too, but I am also willing to take the hardships with the good."

"That was my father who called." She sniffed, "He told me to stay away from you."

"He doesn't like me May." Ash confirmed, "And I don't think his opinion is going to change anytime soon."

"It has to."

"And what if it doesn't?" Both of them knew that the outcome was a very real possibility.

May's eyes suddenly brightened, "I got it!" She exclaimed, almost yelling. Her mood now much different, "Ash, what does a Commando do when he comes across a hostile threat?"

"We neutralize it as quickly and effectively as possible." His answer was more out of habit.

"If that doesn't work?" May pressed.

"Fall back. Get into a more advantageous position or gather reinforcements."

"Reinforcements!" She said excitedly, "I know one person who might be able to help us! We can visit tomorrow. She lives in Littleroot."

"Don't see why not." Ash started the engine and rolled out of the station. "That military talk you just gave me is a dead giveaway, you've been hanging around me and my team for too long."

May laughed, now her usual cheerful self and the conversation with her father pushed to the back of her head, "Can't get rid of me that easily. What did you mean by team?"

"That was the first question I asked them on our first major operation," Ash replied, "I just relayed you the Commando's correct answer and back then, Jewell was the only one to get it right."

* * *

 **Well, another chapter in the books. Little bit of family togetherness and some drama mixed in with that. May is definitely going to confront Ash about the revelation her father just revealed about him and it's definitely going to be a touchy subject. And who is this person May knows? Probably most if not all of you already know, but I enjoy asking it at the end anyway!**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	22. Chapter 22

"May, this place is in Littleroot." Ash stated as she finished programming her phone's GPS and seeing the route. The drive was an hour and fifteen minutes away.

"Yeah, this person, she lives out there in a cozy condo. You'll love Littleroot, it's a nice town that has a homey vibe to it."

Ash nodded but didn't say anything. They were silent driving down south for different reasons. He had gotten into a rather disturbing case involving child prostitution that had been solved rather quickly with the ringleader being caught. Brendan had beaten the guy in their interrogation chambers six ways from Sunday when he said that he felt no regret for his actions. That had clearly shown Ash what made Decker tick. It was also something that grinded his gears as well. None of the team responded well to the crime itself, but particularly himself and Brendan, they both displayed an intense anger to those people who had assaulted and abused children for a living. He just wanted to get the case done and over with so that its nightmarish experience would pass.

For May, she was still very shocked about the fact that initiation into Ash's Commandos meant that he had to execute an unarmed individual. She wondered if that was what he was thinking about.

"Ash?"

"Yeah?" His reply was curt and he didn't turn to look at her, although he was likely keeping eyes on the road.

"Is it true?"

"What's true?"

"What you had to do as a Commando. Execute someone?"

May thought his current mood wouldn't turn colder, yet it was as if he was just as frosty as a Glalie's breath. "I wish you didn't bring that up May."

"What? Why?"

"It's something I don't particularly like to talk about. I'm guessing your father told you. There are few people who know about something like that."

"Is it true?" May felt a spike of anger through her veins. It wasn't because the fact that Ash had done the act, but instead kept it under wraps.

"It's something I don't particularly like to talk about." He repeated, himself also getting angry and irritated. His throat felt dry and the steering wheel began to get a little slick from sweat on his palms.

"Is it true?!"

Ash sighed, knowing he wasn't going to escape this. "Yes," He finally said after a long pause, "It's true."

He held up a hand to prevent her from saying any further accusations, "Before you say anything, let me explain."

"I know you kill people," May's voice shook, "I didn't know you killed unarmed."

"Listen May, I had no choice."

"No choice? Ash, you always have a choice. Isn't that what you've been telling me since?"

"You're not giving me a chance to explain myself," Ash snapped. "May, what your father told you is extremely classified. How he got ahold of something like that is beyond me."

"Classified whatever! Doesn't take away the fact that it didn't happen!"

"No it doesn't." His voice grew distant, "One of our final tests is our loyalty. To prove that we are worthy of following the orders of our superior to the letter," He sighed, "Even if it crossed moral boundaries. We didn't complete our directive, they ushered us out and sent us back to base. We were told those people were prisoners on row for death penalty. My victim was a militiaman of a former island warlord who had convictions of murder, rape and oppression of the people they were supposed to protect. Like the case we handled today, he killed kids in cold blood."

Ash shook his head, "Still haunts me today, there are few people in my honest opinion who deserve a death like that. Lined up like a bunch of creatures ready for a slaughter. While my person wasn't the finest man to walk the earth, others were different. Despite what they did, they're still human beings. So no, May, I don't find any pleasure in killing anyone and don't do it unless absolutely necessary."

He fell silent as they began to take the highway off to Littleroot before continuing, "Ever since I was a little boy, my dream was to become a Commando and yes, part of me was very conflicted in killing the man on his knees. It's necessary. We have to be ruthless at times. The memory of that day is something I want to keep out of my mind as much as possible."

"I'm sorry." May said, "I didn't know-"

"I know." Ash slipped his free hand onto hers, "It's best we forget about it."

* * *

Littleroot had a population that was shy of forty thousand, essentially one of the smaller settlements. It was nestled with forests surrounding it and had only one major highway that would eventually split, one going north to the city of Odale and another west from Petalburg.

Overall, the climate was sunny and warm year round with periodical showers that were prevalent in the spring and lasted until the fall. Snow was quite rare, but not absent.

Despite its small population, Littleroot had quite a homey atmosphere, almost as if it were a place to grow up in before venturing out into the world. Dense forests surrounded the area with homes nestled neatly together. Downtown was a cluster of a handful roughly ten-storied buildings together and further south was a clearing to the pristine beaches that families moved towards when it was a hot summer weekend. The place was a major industry point for lumber, with a couple big corporate mills based in the business center.

This was definitely a quiet place to retire or raise a family.

One major change that both Ash and May noticed was that people gave them nods and friendly greetings as they passed into a small Sinnoh restaurant for a quick dinner. People here were known for their honesty and approachability, often ranking in the Hoenn census as the Republic's friendliest city. Sure, there were greetings when people passed by in Petalburg, but the ones thrown out here were so much more genuine and nearly everyone gave them one, whether directly or indirectly. Ash was charmed by the place already and quietly wished that his own hometown of Pallet was like this, instead of being run-down and more than enough directionless thugs wandering about.

After eating, May directed Ash over to a small apartment complex in the suburban area. It was typical of a layout with a roof over a line of cars. He steered his own vehicle into a vacant parking spot that was highlighted for guests. The air was slightly humid and Ash felt his body start to sweat, a slight slick sensation that he was well accustomed to.

They headed up the stairs and stopped at a door. May took in a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at him before rapping her knuckles twice.

A few seconds passed before a lock on the other side was heard unlatching and it opened up to reveal a middle-aged woman with brown hair that was virtually identical to May's. Ash immediately noticed it as well as the shade of her light blue eyes.

"May!" She practically squealed and threw her arms around the younger girl. "I'm so glad you're okay after that incident!"

"Mom! That was a week ago! I'm fine!" May cried, returning the hug. By the looks on how the two women greeted one another, it was safe to say that they had not seen one another for a long time, but then again, he also attributed it to the fiasco involving him too.

Breaking apart, May's mother addressed Ash for the first time. "You must be May's friend," The configuration of words she had given him was usually told by the bad guy and was a statement instead of a question.

"Hi," Ash extended his hand out, "My name's Ash."

"Ash?" She gave him a quizzical look before the realization dawned on her, "Oh my Arceus, you're THE Ash? The one who rescued May on the Sea Mauville!" Without hesitation, she completely ignored his shake and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a much lighter hug. "Thank you so much for rescuing my baby here!"

"I would say you're welcome," Ash's throat went dry again, "But that would sound awkward. My apologies Mrs. Maple."

"Oh don't mind it silly!" She waved it off before ushering the two of them inside. "Please call me Caroline. Nobody has called me Mrs. Maple for years."

As May and Ash entered, he took a glance around. The place had light cream colored walls with a glass coffee table in the main living room. A stylish lamp was beside a brown sofa and it faced a flat-screen television. To the left was a large wall that held the entrance to a kitchenette and on the right a smaller hallway to a closet and the main bedroom and bathroom.

"She likes you Ash," May gave him a wink, "That was easier than I thought."

Caroline gestured for them to sit before returning with a rather expensive looking bottle of wine and a trio of glasses. She popped the cork and filled them with the dark red liquid.

"How's Max?"

"He's at football camp right now, but doing very well. Hopeful you might come to see him play when the season starts."

"I wouldn't want anything else," Caroline spoke fondly of her son.

"Now as much as I'd love for us to catch up, I know you didn't come to do that." She crossed her legs and sat on the adjacent chair holding her glass up.

"No we didn't." May and Ash clinked glasses and sipped it, taking a silent moment to appreciate the craftsmanship put into the fermented drink.

"This is Kalosian," Ash held it in front of him and bent down to examine the bottle, "House of Pierre-Vincent's signature Cabernet. From the Shalour district."

"Wow," Caroline and May were both impressed, "You know your wines."

"I had plenty of this kind when I was there. Locals drink it like water."

"You've been to Kalos?" Caroline asked, "I went on vacation a year after the invasion."

"I was part of that invasion," Ash sipped, "Imperial Forces had barricaded Lumiose from the west and south and the Federation spearheaded their primary forces all along the northeast front using Laverre and Couriway as staging points."

"That's right, you're a Federation Commando. So you've seen plenty of action?"

"Aside from north Kalos, I've participated in operations in southern Kalos, Johto and Oblivia." He felt like he was on a job interview, being grilled with questions.

"Anyway," May cut in, "I…well we, came here for some advice." She looked over at Ash, "When Ash saved my life, not once but twice in the same day, I couldn't help but have this strange feeling. Almost like my eyes have been opened. Mom, I just want to do so much and Ash has done an awesome job at showing me what I've been missing this whole time!"

Caroline looked expectantly at him.

May continued to go on, "But my father. He doesn't like Ash at all. More than once he told me to stay away from him, but I don't want to leave him. He means too much to me."

Seeing her predicament, Ash quietly slipped his hand into hers.

Caroline noticed the gesture, "Well your father is quite a stubborn man. Oddly, that's what attracted me to him in the first place."

"What happened between you two?" The Commando asked, "That is, if you don't mind me asking."

"It's fine. Norman is a very zealous man. He always puts his full effort into whatever he does, business, family, hobbies, it's drilled into him. Thing is, he has nearly a million things on his mind for the future and not one of them involved me. One night, I just couldn't take it anymore. May was barely out of high school and Max was too young to understand what was happening. We argued for hours and the next morning I left. A week later, I sent him divorce papers and we finalized it."

"Ever try to make it up?" Ash asked. He had a suspicion that their divorce was about money or something else, but now hearing it from another perspective, it had nothing to do with the falling out.

"I tried calling him at least twenty times over the years, but he hasn't called back once." Caroline was beginning to tear up. May leaned into her mother for comfort. "It's none of your fault that he doesn't like you Ash. Norman has a hard time understanding that all people don't think like he does. That's why he surrounds himself with those that do."

"Like Drew?"

"Yes. Although I would have never set them up like he did." She finished her wine before refilling it. "When we were divorced, I tried to fight for the custody of both May and Max, but the judge ruled that my financial crisis was too much to handle them. I didn't inherit a single dollar either."

"Hold on," Ash said, "If May was close to eighteen, wouldn't she be liable to take care of herself?"

"Ash," May sniffed, as if embarrassed from the conversation, "I'm scared. Scared of how quickly the real world is going to drag me down. So I stayed with my father and never contemplated on moving out to somewhere on my own."

"I hear you, the real world is scary and it shocks you at first." He gave her hand a light squeeze, "But the sooner you do those things, the better of an understanding you have when you don't have any other choice. It's more beneficial to get a foothold as early as possible."

"He's right May. And no matter what happens, know that your father and I will always love you and you have Ash too. You're not alone."

"Thanks mom."

"We better get going," Ash stood up, "It's going to be a long drive back and I have to get to work early."

"C'mon. I'll walk you out."

As they stood in the doorway, May embraced her mother, "Thank you so much mom for helping us."

"I would do anything for you or your brother. Tell Max to look for me in the stands during the opening game."

"I will."

Caroline approached Ash and hugged him as well, "I see how May looks at you." She dropped her voice to a whisper when she had gone down to the car, "She really likes you and I can see it in your eyes. You like her too. Let me clear; if you break her heart, I will come after you. Understand?"

He was deftly surprised that she was unintimidated by the Commando's towering build and height. "I'll take good care of her."

"I know you will," She hugged him again, "You two have a safe trip back."

* * *

The lens tracked Ash as he made his way over to the car. It was positioned just behind the steering wheel of a blue sedan. The occupant in the driver's seat blew out a cloud of smoke that dissipated inside the cabin, adding to an acrid stench that permeated the entire vehicle's interior.

It had once been a luxury car, but age and use had reduced it to a cheap hand-down and the man driving had found it untraceable from the start.

He first saw the girl come down the steps. Recognizing her from the news in the heroic rescue, he became curious on why she was here. The article stated that she was a native to Petalburg.

Then the man descended, joining her and now things got interesting. The damsel was in a relationship with her hero?

Just as he snapped a stream of clear photos of the two of them, Ash quickly turned around and did a visual scan of the lot. The look on his face and his hand was close to his pocket, a stance almost as if to protect himself. It also gave the suspicion that he was under surveillance.

The man held his breath, subconsciously reaching for the thirty two caliber pistol sitting in the cupholder. It almost felt as if he was about to be caught. He had disabled the flash feature on the camera and rolled up the windows to prevent being seen or heard.

Then the man seemed satisfied that nothing was looking out at him before starting the engine and pulling out in his direction.

Both of them cast a wave at the woman atop the stairs of the apartment before vanishing behind the lot, turning onto the main road to begin the trip west.

Once more, curiosity got the better of him and he quickly took another series of pictures before she disappeared inside. He saw the apartment number on the side of the door and wrote it down on a notepad by the gun. Once the camera was put away, he took out a cell phone and dialed a number.

"Yeah it's me," He said after it rang and the other line had picked up, "I got something you might be interested in."

* * *

 **Anyone miss me? Here's another chapter in apology for a longer absence of having company over and taking them all over town when I wasn't working. Managed to squeeze in time to write it out. And I admit that most of my time too was spent watching baseball and pining for football to start. (Hurry up already!)**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	23. Chapter 23

"May?!" Norman called out from the foyer, "I'm home."

He set his suitcase down as May appeared from the top of the balcony. "Hi dad."

She slowly descended and went into his embrace. From his perspective, she seemed uneasy and he attributed it from the fight over the phone they had the other day. Part of him felt sorry that he had spoken to her so viciously.

"Hi sweetie. Glad you're home."

"Me too dad. How was your flight?"

"Long," He sighed tiredly, "Drew had to stay behind from another meeting we had so he'll be flying back tomorrow."

"Oh," She sounded disappointed.

He took it as that she missed him so he gave her some assurance, "He'll be back tomorrow night. Don't forget, we're going to have a party next week and this year it's going to be special."

Every year, the Maple family held an enormous bash during the middle of the school year, not quite close to Thanksgiving. Everyone was invited related to them, extended family, friends and associates. The party would begin in the evening and usually the last of the guests would end up spending the night in guest rooms because they would have too much alcohol to drive. Groggy the next morning, they would then depart for Sunday's mass in whatever chapel they followed.

"It's not that dad, it's just…" She trailed off.

"What is it sweetie," Norman's happy expression changed to concerned, "What is it?"

"I'm going to break it off with Drew," May sucked in her breath, waiting for the inevitable backlash.

"What?" Her father was definitely surprised by the decision. "You're going to break up with him?"

May nodded.

"Why? Drew loves you. Why would you want to hurt him like that?"

"Drew may love me, but I don't love him back," May stated, "We don't always see things eye to eye."

"I see." For a moment, May thought her father understood, but she noticed his breathing elevate and he clenched his jaw, a sign that he was angry.

"Is it because of him?" Norman pointed, keeping his tone low, but brimming with malice, "That Commando police officer? May, what are you thinking? What has he told you so far? Huh?"

"He-"

"That what? He's going to take care of you?! May, I'm sorry to tell you this, but as much as you've matured over the years, you still have limitations. Later on in life, you're going to need someone that will give you a safe and happy one. I'm getting older and soon enough I'm going to have to deal with Max, but right now, I need to have a piece of mind that you will be happy."

"What about my piece of mind?! Ash makes me happy!" May defiantly shouted, "You have no idea what his life is like and you don't even try! Why are you so nervous about just letting me do my thing?"

"I know enough about Ash to tell that he is exactly who I expected him to be."

"Ash cares about me. A lot. He even said that he won't come between us."

"And here he is, driving us apart!" Her father's voice now got even more angry, sort of a loud booming sound that could frighten just about anyone, "You choose to be with Ash, you'll be throwing away all the time and effort people who truly care about you for the petty little crush on the man! Are you really willing to make that trade?!"

"Yes," May's voice turned cold, "Because Ash has given me the type of attention that I want!"

She turned to walk away but stopped, still talking to him, "Just so you know, if Drew does show up at the party next week, he's going to be YOUR guest."

Then she disappeared, bounding up the stairs and into her room, not bothering to look back.

Norman swore under his breath. Ash had done everything to undermine everything he and Drew had worked for in May's future. It served as a double purpose; May was next in line to inherit his billion dollar company, but he didn't see her fit to run it, so therefore he had set her up with Drew, a young company management intern he had befriended during his tenure. The two of them hit it off and had been in a solid relationship. Upon their predetermined marriage and Norman would eventually pass the company's helm to Drew, the protégé would be groomed and fit. All that remained was the inheritance, which would be gained by May's marriage.

It was time to make some calls since apparently May was not backing down. Everything Norman had thrown at Ash; he had easily countered and continued to unwind their efforts.

It was time to go after the source.

* * *

Ash straightened his dress uniform, smoothing out any wrinkles he could have found. The medals lined his chest neatly along with a rainbow of ribbons. He felt a bit uncomfortable on wearing his Federation uniform in the midst of a foreign country, as the act was considered unusual, but he had no Hoenn military one and he technically did not report to any of their leaders.

Scratch that; he reported to the Premier of the country, the head of state. While concerning affairs that were domestic, that was his commander, although he ultimately had executive authority to tend to the Federation, where his ultimate loyalty lay.

Premier Steven Stone was a thin man with gray hair despite his age of twenty five. He was on record the youngest to attain the office and was immediately popular with the youth. However, his hobbies were far from their usual vibrant style, instead seeking out to collect rare stones and gems through Hoenn and the world. Despite the government seat being Mauville as the capital. Steven maintained his home in Mossdeep and only went to the city when necessary.

Steven had quite a commanding presence even before he was sworn in and Ash found that he maintained an air of being in charge. His attitude was crisp, firm and to the point, regardless of talking to an officer twice his age or an eight year old little girl.

Nevertheless, he had ventured out to Petalburg and personally met the JETS and thanking them for their newly established services.

"Lieutenant Ketchum." On the screen in the JETS' headquarter building, Steven was wearing a black suit and red tie, flanked by the awesome view of his home office. His gray hair was neatly combed.

"Premier," Ash greeted back.

"Rest of the team doing well?"

"Of course."

"Now then," He shuffled papers on the desk, "I've called in concern of the tension between you and Mister Norman Maple."

"Sir?"

"I think you know what I mean, Lieutenant." Steven was not in the mood to put up with any shit today, "Mister Maple is a good friend of mine and a large supporter of mine. He is in fact; the biggest contributor to my reelection come next year. He's contacted me twice about you and let's just say that what he had described was in no way positive. So I'll ask again," He set down the papers, "What has Norman Maple so pissed off about you?"

The air was heavy with silence and Ash felt the tension as if he was swimming, "I've been seeing his daughter sir and he does not approve."

The answer seemed to surprise the Premier as his eyes flew open and slightly recoiled, "May? I thought she was with Drew Hayden?"

"I know she has thought about breaking it off with him."

"You don't have any influence in her decision?"

"From her friend's point of view, it seems that the thought has originated before we met." That was partially true, but in the presence of the head of state discussing about one of his supporters didn't work very well in Ash's favor.

"So let me start from the beginning," Steven put a hand on his chin in an inquisitive gesture, "You two first met when you rescued her from the Syndicate on the Sea Mauville wreck?"

"Yes sir."

"Therefore you two became close friends and ended up seeing one another?"

"That is correct."

To Ash's surprise, Steven nodded in understanding, "I see. She's an attractive woman."

"Very," He agreed, "She's been isolate for part of her life."

"That is not a surprise, Norman keeps his women close and controlling over their decisions."

"Haven't seen him around his son Max, but he certainly is with May. Can I ask what complaints he had filed against me?"

Steven pulled out another paper inside his desk and scanned it, "His complaint explicitly says that Lieutenant Ketchum has been unable to properly perform his duties as the head of the Joint Enforcement Tactical Specialist Urban Warfare Team due to personal issues and should be relieved of his command and replaced." He looked up again, "I told him that replacing you was not an option and he therefore countered saying that his business had been struggling and his contributions might be less than what it had been."

Ash sighed and rubbed his temple, "What in the world does this guy have against me?"

"It's more of your Commando rank than your police one Lieutenant."

"I don't get it? The Commandos?"

"I know it's hard not to take it personally, but you are not at fault and neither are the rest of your teams."

"I don't take too kindly to anyone disrespecting my country or unit, regardless of whom." He caught himself and how blunt his statement was, "No disrespect. Sir."

Steven waved it off, "Norman Maple has always been a good friend of mine, but I will come to his defense if necessary. If he so much as suggests that he was threatened in any way by you, we will be talking again and I won't be as open minded as I was today. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good." The Premier leaned back in his seat, "I told him that I could get more votes from the work you and your team does than from him and that was enough for his silence. Just between you and me, I never really thought Drew Hayden would make an ideal boyfriend for May. She's too good for him and my impression of him was arrogant and kind of a snob. Thanks for helping me sort this issue out Lieutenant; although I'm sure we made more questions than answers."

"Of course Premier, you have a good rest of your day."

Steven winked off and Ash breathed a sigh of relief. From all the information he had just been given, May was being pushed in a direction that impacted him more than it did to her. Norman was probably very infuriated with the Premier and had to change things up. May would be the easier one to mold, somebody in their relationship the two that manipulating was effortless.

"He's been manipulating her through her entire life." Ash whispered to nobody in particular.

Checking his phone for things to do tomorrow, he couldn't find any spare time to keep her away from Drew. He was set to go on the clock in the morning, but also Max's first football game was set at the night and he had personally extended Ash an invitation to watch, hoping the young man's quarterbacking skills would pay off.

Perhaps he could see her there.

* * *

May was just in the middle of reviewing her grade from the addition of her interviewing project. Ash was the perfect candidate and she had gotten a ninety five score on it. It was worth a good portion of her grade and was enough to bump it to an A. International Relations wasn't her strong suit and she admitted that there were difficult segments of the course, but she still loved the class and having such a high grade made her optimism soar. One class closer to her degree.

Her phone started ringing; it was Drew.

"Hi Drew."

"May!" He sounded tired, but also relieved. "Finally. I've been trying to reach you for hours. Your father told me everything that's going on. Why do you have to needlessly put your safety at risk?"

"Because it's fun! Drew, can't we just go surfing or even just go spelunking in Granite Cave? Stop being so dramatic!"

"You're saying my concern for you is over dramatic?"

"No! Stop just worrying about me. I can take care of myself! I'm just having so much fun!"

"May," Drew stopped himself. Maybe Norman was right. This Ketchum Commando was more of a threat than either of them had originally anticipated. May had not been her normal self and he attributed it to the abduction, but now he saw that Ash's lifestyle was beginning to rub off on her and it was far more appealing than him.

"I'm sorry May." He feigned tiredness and defeat, "I'm on your side here and I just don't want anything to happen to you. I love you too much."

"Nothing's going to happen to me Drew," May annoyingly said. She desperately wanted to just call it off directly with him, but she knew that he would tip her father as soon as it happened. Plus it would sound rude to dump a boyfriend and then wish them to have a good upcoming meeting.

"You could have said that the night you told your father you were going to that concert. Anything could happen at anytime."

"Drew, you know I want to do more than just be someone in your corner to love right? I want to experience things; touch, explore and be thrilled by all that life has to offer! I want to live my life because for ten years, I haven't been able to."

"I know." He assured her, "I understand."

Drew sure did. He was now one hundred percent sure that Norman was right. Ash and Dawn were both threats to him. He should have seen from the beginning that they were interfering with his plans for May to be his and filling her head with puerile bullshit. When he would return, this asshole was going to learn that she belonged with him. He had everything; money, his dream girl and her father's approval/blessing. The only thing that was not his was the inheritance of the company, but that would come soon…very soon.

"I have to go now. The meeting's starting," Drew said, "I'll be back tomorrow evening and I understand you want to be part of something bigger. Why don't we take a hike in the Petalburg Woods or even better, take an art class together? When I do get back, I'll have something both of us will love. Sound good? Alright, I'm late. See you tomorrow." He hung up.

May gave an annoyed huff, "An art class? Really Drew? You don't understand at all."

* * *

 **Wow, all the drama is making me write more excitedly! Everyone is in a heated argument against one another and neither side is willing to give in. Stay tuned cause next chapter is going to have a big bombshell dropped on Ash!**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	24. Chapter 24

Max couldn't ask for a more perfect night to show off his new skills.

He had worked out with Ash as much as he could while not at camp and was fairly confident that Coach was going to put him in tonight. He'd get news headlines in the school paper and a lock on the starting job.

That is if his own team wasn't down by fourteen points.

The other high school, Ehrens Solrock had a dominating defense, forcing three interceptions and returning two of them for touchdowns, putting their score 21-7. The other quarterback on the team had been sacked twice and they had been putting a lot of pressure on him, keeping him from executing plays.

For a moment he was nervous about facing such a tight scheme, but Ash had told him to always play as if he was in the championship game.

"Practice like you're playing the game. Play the game like you're practicing."

* * *

May and Norman were sitting in the bleachers as the second half went underway. Max was still spotted sitting on the bench by the time the final quarter had finished.

West Petalburg High had stepped up their game; the defense had not allowed a single point to be scored while at the same time, gaining a field goal, opening up the fourth quarter with an epic punt return that brought the game down to one possession.

Once again, the defense held them off with three and a half minutes remaining. May saw their regular starting quarterback run back to the bench and the familiar shape of Max taking his place.

"Max is going out!" She cried.

"Go Max!" Norman looked over, giving a shout of encouragement.

In the center of the huddle, Max clapped his hands and all of his players took positions.

"Max Maple in his debut as a quarterback is charged with leading the drive that could potentially turn the game into West Petalburg's favor. Will Ehren's defense stop this party?"

"Not on my watch," Max muttered under his breath. Calling out an audible, he scanned left and right to make sure that his people knew what he wanted to do. He was also well aware that the defense was watching him closely.

The ball snapped and he dropped back to pass. Max struggled to locate an opening, but couldn't. The defensive backs were tight on his receivers. Time continued to tick away and the longer he held onto it, the more chances the defense could get a sack or even worse, a turnover.

He never saw the lineman lunge from behind, his arms wrapping around the young man in a hug to bring him down. Thankfully, he managed to keep hold of the ball to prevent a forced fumble.

"Keep going."

Shaking off the sack, he reassembled the team and they played again. This time, he handed it off to the running back who almost broke free of the defensive line before he was brought down, only gaining a couple yards.

Max tapped the tips of his hand with his palm to signal a timeout. He ran over to the Coach and was surprised to see Ash there too.

Coach Baldwin was impressed by Ash's quarterback skill, having been an assistant for South Hoenn during their glory days and knew that had he gone to college, he would have made a great signal caller. Many of Max's teammates liked him too, which prompted Baldwin to put him as a part time coach whenever he had the chance.

"What's going on Max?"

"They're just too tight. I try and pass, the secondary tightens their coverage on the receivers. We run it and the line's all over us."

Coach tried to say something, but Ash had beat him to it, "Max, don't think about the score, don't think about the clock winding down. Just focus on getting that ball twenty yards into the endzone."

"If we lose?"

"Then you lose. Remember this is football, you win as a team." Ash said, "But you also lose as one too. And you make the most of your loss to rectify your mistakes so they don't happen again." He slapped Max on the padded shoulder, "You know what to do. Score. Go get em."

Back in the stands, Norman narrowed his eyes at who Max was talking to and giving encouraging words. His hands balled into a fist.

"Is that Ketchum?"

"What?" May looked out and saw Ash who had found them in the stands. Seeing Norman there too, he gave her a simple nod of acknowledgement. Greeting in any other form would probably agitate him more and he did not want to create a bigger rift between father and daughter.

"Did you tell him about Max?" Norman demanded.

"I introduced him," May replied, "And before you go off on how he's badly influencing Max, stop!"

"He's poisoning not one, but both of my children!" He made a growl of annoyance, "May, from tomorrow on, I am placing a restraining order on him! He is not to come within speaking distance to either of you!"

"Dad!" May protested, although it was drowned out by the screaming of everyone else. Max had completed a pass that brought his team down to the nine yard line. The receiver ran out of bounds to stop the clock at eleven seconds. They had time to snap off one more play.

"This is not negotiable, he has poisoned enough of us already enough. I hope you said your goodbyes because after tonight, you will never see him again."

"Stop it dad!"

"I'm serious! Do you even know why Ash was sent to Hoenn in the first place? He came to head a specialist group as part of a two sided deal with the Federation. We would supply them with the new military software operating systems if they sent an advisor to lead a domestic protection unit. That was the deal! Nowhere did it say that they would send someone to try and influence my son or court my daughter away from whomever she belongs!"

Back down on the field Max was ready.

"We can run it in," His running back said, "They'd expect it, but at such a close distance we'd be able to punch it in."

"No we have to pass," Another player said, "Too much open ground and you could get stopped. It'll all be over by then."

The huddle's voices grew as the team continued to disagree with one another.

"HEY!" Max shouted, "Who's the quarterback here?"

That got the others to quiet down.

"We go out, play football, but right now I'm making the play. There will be time for a debate like this in the locker room. Got it?"

Some of the more vocal members grumbled under their breath, but nodded.

"Good." Max looked at the clock, confident that he would have enough time to pull this off. Seeing Ash giving him a nod of confidence suddenly struck an idea into his head, "So here's what we're going to do."

* * *

"The offense has lined up for the final play. This is sure to be one full of tension, as the performance on either side of the ball could be the outcome of the game!"

Max made sure all his guys were in position before he lined up just behind the center.

One of the linebackers; the guy who had sacked him earlier, pointed directly at him, "You're goin down Maple."

Max ignored him and signaled the center to snap. With the ball in hand, he spotted the defense coming at him in a blitz. His hand extended out, handing it off to the running back. Although instead of running, he held it as if poised to throw.

Meanwhile, Max himself had taken off to the right side, where only one defender was moving to cover him. Since he was bigger, the Maple's smaller size and nimbleness allowed him to evade with ease.

Finally the running back aimed towards Max and launched the football into the air. All he could think of was keep running and grab the ball before it hit the ground.

The timing was perfect. He clamped both hands around the football's smooth leathery surface and sprinted towards the endzone.

One of the defenders quickly moved to stop him, already lunging out for a tackle. Thinking quickly, Max sidestepped him, but it wasn't enough to escape. The other kid had grabbed his ankles, bringing him down. To help compensate and try to make something out of the play, he stretched both hands and lunged forward, falling at the same time.

Just a moment before his knees hit the ground, the football in his grasp passed over the edge of the endzone and the referee threw up his arms to signify a touchdown.

The entire side of the home team exploded in cheers as the clock ran down to zero when he had fallen and the final score being 24-21. Max did it, they won!

He still felt the euphoric rush in his body and couldn't help but laugh like a little kid lying in the grass.

Seconds later he was tackled by his teammates who were shouting similar praises at him.

"Way to go Max!"

"How did that work?!"

"Oh my Arceus, I don't believe it!"

"We won!"

Up in the stands, both Norman and May screamed at the top of their lungs when Max had just crossed over and the ref had declared a touchdown.

"Oh my goodness!" Her father was completely taken aback, "How in the world did that happen?"

"Max did it!" She threw her arms around her father, all the animosity towards him erased, "He scored!"

* * *

As the field began to clear of people, several of the players congratulated and greeted one another.

"Congrats man," The linebacker who had previously pointed at Max extended his fist, "That was one brilliant play. How did you come up with it?"

"I think I was just desperate," He joked, pounding the fist and causing the two of them to laugh. While they might be fighting one another with different uniforms, the competitiveness would usually die down when the game was over.

"You looked like you were in total control." His jersey name said Koch, "Anyway, congrats on the win. Good luck next week."

"Same to you," Max clanked fists with him again and parted ways. After the coach's speech in the locker room, he walked back out to the parking lot where Ash had approached.

"See what I told you? Just play the game and you won't leave the field with regrets! Regardless if you won or not!"

"Yeah!" Max threw his arms around the man in a brotherly hug, "Thanks so much Lieutenant!"

"Call me Ash, we're beyond formalities now."

"I know all your tricks now!"

Ash gave a smirk, "Not all my tricks kid! One step at a time, right?"

"Hey look who it is!" A voice rang out and Max turned away into his father's embrace, "Look at the new starting quarterback!"

"Dad!" Max breathed, "You're squeezing me a little tight!"

"Sorry," He looked over at Ash, but didn't give a sign of recognition. Turning back to his son, "Those were some final intense seconds! Where could you come up with something like that?"

"Ash taught me! He's a Lieutenant in the Commandos! Isn't that cool or what?"

At Max's praises, both Ash and May stiffened. They knew what was coming next.

"Really?" Norman looked over. For a moment, he thought he was going to get another berating, but instead the billionaire extended his hand, "Well Lieutenant, you've taught my son well. Thank you for that."

His eyes betrayed the words; they were full of contempt and resentment. Then he blinked and those feelings had vanished. "May, go and start the car. I'll be right over there. I have to talk to Ash for a moment."

"Nice job today Max." He clapped him on the shoulder before gazing at his sister, "May."

He tossed her the keys, prompting her and Max to leave. Before she was out of his view, she gave Ash a sympathetic look.

The glance they shared was not missed by her father. "I've put in an order with the police. As of tomorrow, you will be under a restraining order and not to come within talking distance to either my daughter or son. Tonight was the last night you will see either of them."

"I really wish you hadn't done that." Ash said, "You're only making it harder for both of them."

"I'm doing you a favor Lieutenant. You're not going to get anything else from my children anymore. This order is for both your sake and theirs. Focus on your career, the purpose of why you are here."

"Theirs?" Ash realized that Steven wasn't kidding when he said Norman could be stubborn, "Mister Maple, you have a very intelligent son and a very beautiful daughter. They're both wonderful people and I consider them to be great friends of mine. Why would you want to break the friendships I've made with them?"

"What do you know about friendships?" Norman spat. "Max said it himself. You're a Commando, the majority of your time is fighting! You can't spare any to socialize with the rest of the world! Why are you doing this with May and Max?"

"Because we help one another! You might not realize it, but May and I have a lot more in common than you think. She is learning all of what the world has to offer and I'm learning how to be in a relationship. They're foreign to both of us, but we'll go through it together."

"Your lack of social skills is not my problem Lieutenant, but you are interfering with May's relationship with her own boyfriend! So either you stay away from her or go back to the Federation."

Before Ash could reply, his phone began to ring.

"Ketchum." He coldly responded. Norman saw his expression change to surprise. "When?"

Another pause, "Okay. I'll be there."

He hung up and gazed at Norman. The normally warm brown eyes were icy and devoid of any compassion for him, "You wanted me to go back to the Federation? You just got your wish."

And then Ash turned and walked away.

* * *

 **So another chapter in the books. What is calling Ash back to his home country?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	25. Chapter 25

Ash Ketchum sat at the foot of the bed as he watched his mother's chest rise and fall with ragged breaths.

The disease had turned her sickly, her skin pale and she had visibly lost weight. Her hair that was normally a vibrant dark brown was now discolored and disheveled.

She looked so miserable and the machines; an oxygen mask and IV hooked up to her almost felt as if she was begging someone to put her out of her misery.

No matter how many times he had offered to use his savings to fund a treatment for her disease, she had refused it every time. It had done irreversible damage and would now only just delay. The doctors had said if she had agreed to it, there was a large chance that she could live for many more years to come. Although it wasn't his favored, he respected his mother's decision and just had to wait for the inevitable.

The fellow Commandos of his former team, Gary, Brock and Trip were waiting with the grim news and had hastily driven him to the hospital in Viridian, since the doctors had said that she could pass away at any hour.

"Ash," His head looked up to see her partially remove the mask. He was surprised the sensor inside hadn't gone off yet.

"Mom."

"You never…never told me about your team and your time in Hoenn."

"Hoenn is wonderful Mom." Ash tried to take her mind off the disease, even when it hung over both of them like a black cloud. "Warm weather, I have a very nice house with a view of the ocean and the people are among the friendliest in the world." Well except for a few certain members of a software corporation.

"I'm glad you found friends…and a team."

"Yeah," He agreed, "I don't know what I'd do without them."

"You've grown too…not just physically." Delia wheezed. "You've grown…emotion."

Ash frowned, was he this easy to read?

"Ash, I've know you…your whole life….nobody knows you better…than me."

"Of course mom, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Something...something is bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me mom. The only thing I am concerned about is you right now."

"Not true." She coughed and gazed at him. Through her sickness, one thing that hadn't changed was the eyes. They remained firm and crisp. "Something…maybe someone."

Better to let his secret out now.

"Mom, you're right. I've been seeing someone." He confessed. "You'd like her. We met during one of my ops and we've been spending time together since."

"Good for you…" Delia said, "You need someone to settle."

"Mom!" Ash said in a childish manner, "One step at a time right? It's just that I feel different than around her. We've only known each other for a few weeks, but I feel like she's already a family member. Like my squadmates, but it's different. What's going on?"

"Yes." His mother said with a growing smile on her face, "It's happening."

"What's happening mom?"

"My boy is still becoming a man before my eyes. No need…to explain what's going on…perfectly normal."

"Normal?"

"Yes it is…what's her name?"

"May."

"Whenever you're around May," She reached over and clasped his hand in hers, "Does she make you happy? Flutter your heart?"

"Yeah," Ash looked down.

"Embarrassed even?"

He nodded. "Is that normal for people? I know that I'm capable of feeling emotions and all, but being in the military for more than a third of my life, this is completely new."

"Everyone experiences it at least once in their lives Ash. You're in love."

"In love? How?"

"You've loved people before…right?"

"Of course," Ash relaxed, not sure why he was so nervous and tense at the moment, "You and I love my teams, both here and in Hoenn."

"Yes," Delia had to smile at her son. Even though he was a hardened soldier capable of fighting and destroying things a hundred different ways, he was so naïve and clueless when it came to social things. That and he could just be dense to others. "You're twenty five years old now and the love that I have for you is different…different from love you have for this May. It can be confusing…but it's normal."

"Ah," Ash said, thinking a lot, "Sort of. Now I understand all the things about soldiers talking about their wives and girlfriends when off the battlefield. I knew that it existed, although I never thought I'd experience it so soon or even at all."

"It will happen when you've found the right person." Delia said, "My time on this earth is coming…coming to an end. My heart and soul are with you now in heaven…and my body…is going to follow." She squeezed his hand, "May has to be a pretty and sweet girl to steal the heart of my Ash…so do your best and take it day by day."

"Her father hates me," Ash said, "Thinks I am undeserving of her."

"Ash…not all love stories begin…or end happy…but there will come a time where both of you will experience something with each other that nobody else can replicate. You'll work it out…or neutralize the threat." She chuckled softly at the latter, suddenly coughing.

Ash steadied her back, "I will mom."

"You're very happy with her now…anyone to make my Ash happy will make me happy too. So go soldier…my final order…show May and her father…why you are the right man for her…I know you are."

He gave her a gentle kiss on her wrinkled forehead, "I'll do my best mom."

"Of course you will." Delia wheezed, "And Ash. Love…love can be a very powerful emotion. While it does make lasting memories…it can also cloud one's mind and their judgment…I'm not saying that you will be affected by it…but you need to be careful…sometimes you'll have your love for one another get tested and if you're not careful…it could cost you grave consequences."

"Of course mom." Tears began to surface on his eyes, knowing that this was probably the last night he was going to see her. He wanted to say a million different things, but he couldn't find a good way to say it. "Thank you for taking care of me; raising me and giving me support my whole life." Ash paused, "Tell Arceus to save a spot."

He mentally punched himself, which was what he wanted to say in the light of an impending death?

"Don't worry Ash…" Delia said, "I'll…see you again…and I'll be watching over you with Arceus…at my side. Can't wait…to meet May."

"Get some rest." Ash said as he kissed her forehead one last time. His mother's eyes slid shut. "Love you mom."

He turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

Delia passed away the next morning.

Ash had honored her wish to be cremated and laid her to rest in a cemetery just outside Viridian. The following funeral was short, uneventful and attended by a dozen people, mostly neighbors who lived close by.

Before he was headed off to the Federation, he headed to Vermillion in a debrief with Surge.

The Commander was presently in the operations center and he felt a bit foreign having entered in basic civilian clothes and only his rank insignia to display his clearance. It was hard to believe that the multiple large screens and officers at the stations were a regular sight to him months ago.

"Lieutenant," Surge outstretched a hand, "I'm so sorry about your mother."

Ash nodded and shook it. "Just wanted to swing by and catch up," He avoided the subject of his mother.

Surge had gotten the hint, "Well Lieutenant Ethan and Colossus teams are in Sinnoh, cooperating with their special forces in the counterinsurgency operations. The war over there is a stalemate, neither side seems to be gaining any ground. Other than that, we're just doing daily drills and whatever intelligence or top brass."

"I've missed a lot I take it."

"Why don't we take a walk outside?" The Commander suggested, "I need some air."

"Sure, lead the way."

Surge and Ash walked side by side through the halls out to the observation deck. Personnel going about on their jobs stood aside and snapped salutes. Most nodded a casual greeting and some uttered words of sympathy to Ash as they passed by.

"Good afternoon sir."

"I miss here." Ash said as the doors to the balcony slid open and they leaned over the railing. Across the bay was Vermillion Harbor, where it offered a breathtaking view. The sun reflected off the crystal blue waters as boats of all shapes and sizes moved about. In the distance to their left was the skyline of the metropolitan area. Further out to sea was the silhouette of a Navy destroyer.

"Great place to unwind from all the shit that happens down in Ops." Surge took off his sunglasses, "Also nice to see all them kids getting their asses whooped at the Navy boot camp."

"I remember that very well."

"That's where I first laid eyes on you and Gary. The way both of ya lasted longer than the other trainees immediately brought my attention."

He turned to look over at Ash, "Lieutenant, I've been recently informed by the Premier of Hoenn on your time over there and I must say you've opened quite the can. Starting a new specialist team and getting yourself caught up in an Ariados' web of love." He leaned closer, "Now I am fully aware that you are more than capable of taking care of yourself. You've demonstrated it on and off the field. It is not my place to dictate your personal life."

Ash nodded.

"But my advice is the same as her father had suggested to me. Do not return to his daughter. Remember, his contract with us will be instrumental in keeping a technological advantage over our enemies. It can be devastating if it doesn't go through and the company's made it clear that further interactions between you and her could delay or even terminate the deal."

"I love May." Ash said quietly, "I really do. Believe me that I didn't go to Hoenn to seek out a mate, but when I did rescue her from that sinking ship, something connecting had formed when we swam to safety."

"You were looking out for her." Surge countered, "People get that attachment to who they're saving or getting saved by."

"It runs deeper than that."

"You're right. I myself am not going to deny that it's happened to me too."

"Like in Kalos."

"Like in Kalos. You came very close to compromising the integrity and security of the Commandos by a simple sentence."

"Goes to show how sensitive our line of work is."

"Yes, it also involves a lot in our personal lives too."

"I'm still going back." Ash declared, "I have a team and a family to run."

"If that is what you wish," Surge shook his hand, "Then I will not stop it. But know this; I hear any further interference from you with his daughter can be grounds for discharge in service in this matter. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright. Good luck. Cedo Nulli." The Commander saluted.

"You too sir. Cedo Nulli." Ash turned to leave, but suddenly stopped as if a eureka moment had just occurred to him. "Hold on one moment,"

"What is it?"

"During a discussion with the Premier, he mentioned that Norman Maple's dislike of me was towards my Commando uniform, not the JETS."

Surge seemed confused, but gestured for him to elaborate.

"My guess is that he hates the Commandos in general. So why would he extend a big multimillion dollar deal with a group of people he despises?"

* * *

 **My uncle was diagnosed with the same disease that Delia had in the story. He passed away some time ago, but a lot of his influence stays with me today. I probably wouldn't be working in my dream industry if it wasn't for him.**

 **Lots of Ash's history with the Commandos is also brought out and a lot more is going to be mentioned.**

 **Cedo Nulli is a rough latin translation that means: I yield to none. It is one of the Commando's unit mottos along with: In defense of the weak.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	26. Chapter 26

Ash stared at the flatbed in front of the JETS headquarter building with the rest of his team congregated around the giant four wheeler ATVs. They were painted a combination of brown, gold and white.

Nicknamed the Zangoose for its incredible agility, the M23 Super Light All Terrain Vehicle were known for being able to accelerate from zero up to sixty miles per hour in six seconds. It had the best handling in the ATV business and a highly flexible frame for covering bumpy terrain.

Hoenn was known for its rather even surface at its coasts; however the desert and rugged parts in the center made the Zangoose a popular option for people traveling in the area. Winter time often saw frequent snowfalls that would stop cars from getting to and fro, but the Zangoose conquered them just as easily as a snowplow would.

"Hot damn," Damien Hammond whistled, "Look at these beauties. Always wanted one as a kid."

"You grew up in Dewford, why the hell would you want one of these?" Jewell asked.

"All the cool kids had one, even though they'd only use it like twice a year. Just another nice thing to have."

"What are we getting these new toys for?" Decker asked.

"The premier and head of internal threat protection are going to be cracking down on the Syndicate and hopefully get a lead on Harley and his lieutenants by the end of the year. To do that, we're going to be scouting their known bases of operation. These guys are ours for crossing the rough tough terrain."

The rumble of an engine caught their attention and they turned to see a sleek indigo car with hood ornament of a creature resembling a feline with a crescent shaped horn on the right side. The driver rolled up beside the flatbed and shut off the engine.

"Fancy," Jewell commented.

Ash had to agree. Whoever owned this car was a rich man and a lot of decorations and it surprised him even more when the doors opened upwards in a beautifly fashion.

The familiar face of Drew Hayden emerged from the driver's seat and made his way to them. He was dressed casually, but there were fancy logos on the sides of his clothing that clearly showed that they were also high end expensive brands. A silver pricey looking watch was on his left wrist.

Ash wasn't too fond of Drew when they first met and he could sort of see why many girls would want to have a chance with him. He had a lot of things; next in line to inherit a multibillion dollar business, plenty of money, nice car and probably lived inside a house that was big enough that he didn't have to walk inside every single room in a day. The way he carried himself was stuck up and portrayed the message "Move over. You're irrelevant, I'm rich."

Then at the same time, he wondered out of all the girls he could have had, why did it have to be May? The answer was obvious; their father had set them up for his own assurance that both his company and daughter would be stable. When she was with them, she was quiet and shrewd. With Ash, she was more outgoing, confident, a completely different person. With Ash, she could just be herself.

"Lieutenant," Drew called out, putting his hands on his hips as he rounded the side of the flatbed.

The team paused and looked at him like he was a foreigner. He didn't bother to stick out his hand for a shake. That was a dead giveaway that he wanted a talk, but it wasn't for formalities or a deal broker.

"Can you give us a minute?" Ash asked. Brendan nodded and gestured for the other three to head inside. When they had left, he turned back to face Drew. He didn't look particularly happy. "What can I do for you?"

"I'll make it plain and simple Ketchum," Drew stuck a finger an inch from Ash's chest, "You stay away from my girlfriend."

Ash pursued his lips and narrowed his eyes, knowing where this was already going, "Mister Maple has put a restraining order on me. I don't think you'll be having a problem with that."

"Yeah but here's the thing." He crossed his arms, "May's not been the same ever since you came into her life. What did you tell her about me? That I was unfaithful? Cheating? Not good enough for her?"

"I said nothing about you and frankly, don't need to. May has her own right to perceive you as she sees fit."

"Then why is she so dour whenever I try and take her out?"

Ash sighed, "Hey, I'm a soldier. If you've got issues with your girlfriend, go see a relationship counselor."

"You've been filling her head with nonsense," Drew spat, "How am I supposed to undo the damage?"

"Undo the damage?" He couldn't believe this man. At first, despite his arrogance, he thought maybe Drew was the more reasonable of the two between him and Norman, since he seemed to want to have no part in the internal conflict between Norman and May. Ash had thought that if May was serious about breaking it off with him, she would have done so already. Now he was starting to think otherwise. "Those were in her head long before I even knew she existed. You ever thought that the reason she's had all those thoughts is because I'm probably the first person that has actually listened to her."

"You're a soldier. You're not going to have time for her anyway."

"You're right." Ash agreed, "I'm a hardworking man, just like you."

"Who kills people for a living."

Ash felt a surge of anger. The way he said it like it was a bad thing made him all the more irritating. Sure, he killed, a sinful act to take another life, but it was justified that they were sworn enemies of the Federation, Republic of Hoenn or himself.

Wasn't it?

Now he was trying to shift the argument on him. Show him how he was incompatible with socializing.

"You ever seen combat? Or ever wanted to kill someone?"

"Maybe some old lady driving on the freeway too slow." Drew tried to laugh it off.

"Yeah funny," Despite the comical statement, Ash showed no emotion and was unamused, "I didn't believe so either because if you did, that would've been the last response I expected from you. There's nothing heroic done by it and I take no pleasure in doing it, no matter what they did."

He straightened, "Norman's put a restraining order on me. I'm not allowed within five hundred feet of either May or Max Maple. I can't "undo" the act of influencing May. You're at a dead end with me, so I'd go waste someone else's time."

* * *

May held the restraining form in her hand as Max approached with his own. They held them over the paper shredder in Norman's office and slid them inside. The machine whined and ripped the forms into pieces.

Norman kept them locked inside his desk, however Max had managed to locate where the keys were hidden and opened it up, taking the forms and leaving his intrusion unnoticed.

"Can't believe Dad doesn't want Ash to hang out with us anymore." He grumbled, "What does he have against him anyway?"

"He says I belong with Drew," May tiredly sighed, "But I don't love him."

Her brother shook his head, "Why do you remain with that prick? He doesn't deserve you. Ash does."

"How am I supposed to get his approval? I tried, Ash tried and Drew's just going to dad for support. I'm afraid of bringing mom into this because it would make things worse."

"Call Dawn." He suggested, "Maybe the two of you can work something out."

May nodded in agreement. She grabbed her coat and keys and made her way down to her car. The weather had gotten a bit cooler and the end of the year was beginning to approach. Norman's party was in five days and Thanksgiving was in two weeks.

"May," Her father greeted just as she was about to step into the garage.

"Dad."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see Dawn." That was partially a lie, but she wanted to talk with both her and Ash.

"Okay." He nodded, seemingly satisfied with her intentions, "Do you have your restraining order form with you?"

"It's in the car." She lied.

"Good. Because Archie is going to check for it when you leave the front gate." He walked off towards his office, "Don't be out too late."

May saw her chance and quickly got out. Archie had just asked about it when she left and didn't press further. He seemed tired and never bothered looking for it.

"Where are my office keys?" Norman asked out loud, a minute after she had left.

Up in his room, Max was busy playing an online game and cringed. He forgot to put them back where he found them.

* * *

"Sooo," Dawn began as they sat together in a coffee shop at the shopping mall, "Your dad's back huh? I guess my presence is no longer welcomed inside."

"Doesn't stop us does it?" May tried her best to sound optimistic.

"What about Ash?" She asked, "Where's he at?"

"He went back to the Federation," She whispered, "He left."

"Don't look at it that way. Maybe he got called away on a secret mission. He said he was in the Reserves, which means he is still on duty."

"He didn't even say why he left either."

"May!" Dawn sternly scolded, "Don't you think for a second that he has forgotten about you!"

"I wanted to do so many things with him Dawn," Her voice seemed lost. Ever since Drew had stepped back into her life, she seemed depressed, solemn. "I even asked him to spend the night with me."

"What?" Her best friend was taken aback by the confession, "You asked him to sleep with you? That wasn't even a thought with you and Drew for years! What did he say?"

"He refused."

"May," Dawn put a hand on her knee, "He's the one."

"He's the one?"

"Yes!" She giggled and jumped excitedly in her chair, nearly spilling her drink onto their laps, "Ash is the man for you! Any man would not hesitate to jump into bed with you except the ones who really care about you as a person! Ash is that person!"

"Then what should I do?"

"Get more intimate with him," Dawn began to lean and whisper since her earlier shriek of excitement had attracted nearby patrons. "I don't mean do a complete make out or sleep together, but just spend some time where the two of you are close again. Maybe just cuddle on the back porch of his house."

"How am I supposed to get him to do that?"

"Have you even contacted him?"

"Nope," May excitedly pulled out her cell phone and sent a text: Hey, where have you been?

Ash replied five minutes later: Hey, I just got back into Petalburg this morning. What's up?

"Do you think he knows about the restraining order?"

"You mean these?" She held up a couple strips of the shredded form in her purse.

"You sneaky lady," Dawn snickered, "I think you're taking a lot after your man."

May replied: I'm sorry about the restraining order.

A minute later Ash sent one back: Eh, not like it's going to stop me from seeing your beautiful face. Why? Want to do something later?

May's fingers tapped rapidly at her miniature keyboard: How about we just have some pizza at your place? Don't want you to be seen at my dad's.

"Why do I feel like a schoolgirl that just broke the golden rule?"

"Because you just did." Dawn smirked. A moment later, May's phone vibrated again: I'm all for that. No better time to show you my place anyway. I'll send you the address.

May reached over to hand her some money in payment for their drinks, but Dawn shooed it away.

"Go spend some time feeling those muscles lover-girl."

She had a hard time trying to walk back to her car with a straight face that wasn't blushing.

* * *

Ash lived in a very nice neighborhood. It was about a fifteen minute drive on the freeway that went through a bit of suburban areas with shopping centers before the houses came into view. A lot of families with younger kids lived in this area and it seemed almost unnatural for a single male in his mid-twenties to reside here. At the same time, Ash's presence could ward off petty criminals and word spread around that the head of the JETS Urban Warfare Specialists had a residence somewhere in the neighborhood.

He bought a single story house that had a backyard on his own personal section of the beach. He had set a back patio with an enormous sunshade, since the sun shone on the back of the house during the morning hours.

It was painted a creamy plaster with dark brown trim with a slanted driveway that had a garage big enough for two cars.

Ash couldn't have picked a better house. It just had a homey vibe to it that May just loved.

He answered at the knock and May immediately noticed that Ash wasn't himself. He looked exhausted, but tried to remain his best in good spirits as he welcomed her to his house for dinner. They even laughed for a full minute when she told him that the restraining order forms had been shredded in the issuer's own wastebasket.

They talked about May's schoolwork and Max while eating before Ash finally slid his plate away. He had a half eaten piece of pizza on it and had already eaten another. Something was bothering him and May knew it because he could easily devour double the amount.

"Ash," May lowered her voice, "You look terrible. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The reply was curt, but also cold. It reminded her of the times when he rescued her, almost robotic.

"Ash…please."

Knowing he wasn't going to escape this one, he sighed. "I lost my mother three days ago. She died of amyloidosis."

May was shocked. "Anyone else you can call family?"

He shook his head, "That's it. I never knew my father, I'm an only child, no wife, no kids."

"What about your fellow Commandos? The Jets? Me?"

"Of course I have all of you and I'm very grateful, but I promised my mom and myself that I would not grieve."

"Ash, nobody will think any less of you if you publicly grieve. In fact, it often brings you and your extended family closer together."

He nodded, "My mom's always been a cornerstone in my life. When I didn't know what to do, she gave me guidance. It didn't always work, but it was helluva lot better than sitting around doing nothing."

"Ash," May scolded, "You need to stop being so negative about her passing. Yes, it's sad she's gone, but it'll just drag you down if you don't get over it soon. Believe me, I know."

"Your own mother?" He assumed.

May nodded.

"At least she is in a way better place than before."

"What do you mean?"

Without another word, he retrieved a large computer tablet and hit the screen a few times. Turning it over, he presented quite a startling image.

May knew it was just a picture, but even she was moved by it. It was a street with rickety old buildings with faded and peeling paint. A lot of trash was on the streets, adding more to the dismal image.

While the buildings certainly were not slums, the dilapidated structures and poverty could easily give away that it was a very poor neighborhood.

Looking back at Ash, his face was unchanged, an icy expression that thrust away any insight of his normal easygoing nature.

"Where is this?" May asked.

"Town of Pallet, Southwest Kanto." Ash monotonously said before adding, "I grew up there."

May gasped. She thought she knew Ash, but every time they met it seemed like there was some twist to his life. She knew that he never had a happy childhood like her, but seeing part of his true self was something else. How did he grow up in such a violent city and come out to be a fearless, selfless warrior?

"Ash,"

"I tried multiple times to use the benefits of my enlistment to relocate." He said, "Vermillion, Olivine, Goldenrod, Fuschia. She turned them down, citing that she didn't want to burden me with her as a responsibility." He looked into her eyes, "Parents always say that it's their duty to take care of the child when he grows up. Isn't it also the duty of the child to take care of the parent when they're unable to do it themselves?"

Ash shook his head, "Peer pressure was everywhere. Drugs, street gangs. It was quite the tough neighborhood and I learned from my mother at an early age to never get involved because the day I do, they'd never ever let me go."

"Then why did you enlist?"

"Because I wanted to be anything but all of what everyone else around me was becoming. My best friend Gary has a grandfather who founded a research institute in the safer northern part of the town and we pulled some strings to get into the boot camp."

"You're telling me your whole life story?" May asked. She scooted closer to him on the couch and leaned in. He found himself automatically wrapping an arm around her back to bring her by his side, "Why is that?"

"I updated my career record on both my Hoenn and Federation dossiers. Since my mother is dead, I had to list my next of kin."

He faced her, "I listed you."

Rather than blush, May reached over and put two fingers on his lips. Dawn's words echoed in her mind and she was going to take full advantage of it. Enough with the tragic past. It was time to do something new.

She moved closer to him and removed her hand, she replaced it with her lips.

Ash saw her eyes slide shut as he returned the kiss, but he was just as surprised to see her take the initiative. His hands snaked around her back and held her close. Had he not done that, May would probably have collapsed. At first, contact was awkward, but Ash had suddenly snatched the helm away from her. They must've been kissing one another for a while because both were panting heavily upon parting.

May was curious to find out how he was such a good kisser. He was clearly ten times better with the intimacy than Drew's attempts.

Even more strange was how Ash began to chuckle. It started out small but it quickly escalated into a full-blown fit of laughter. She couldn't help grinning from ear to ear as it seemed like he was laughing to purge all the stress and hardship from his mind.

"Wow." She said, finally finding something to make out of what had transpired that night. "Was she that special to make you such a good kisser?"

"Her breath wasn't the greatest."

* * *

 **Some drama, some intimacy and some foreshadowing.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	27. Chapter 27

Ash opened up his bottle to refill it at the stand on the side of the gym. It was early morning on the weekend and the majority of gym-goers had yet to come in. The sound of water sloshing around in the basin felt droning and he felt fatigued overall.

Drew's warning of him not to associate with May hadn't really put much of an effect on their relationship. Instead, she just moved her time to exercise for an early morning workout. His schedule was not flexible enough to keep her company during the afternoon and evening, thus they could spend time together on the other time of day before Ash had to report to work. Occasionally, he would get a call about a case, but the sufficient amount of downtime allowed the two of them to grow closer together. She had formally given him an invitation to the party in two days and he immediately accepted. He knew her father wasn't too keen on it, but he couldn't find the restraining forms and calling the government to reestablish them hadn't done him any good.

The kiss continued to linger on his mind and anyone that caught him daydreaming about it would ponder why he had such a silly grin on his face. He was in love. A battle hardened soldier was in love over a student. He had no idea how something like this seemed to define his life.

Today she was nowhere to be seen, so he had just spent the majority in his cardio before moving to the free workout area. He gave a nod to the group of personal trainers before moving off to begin his exercise. Her absence meant that he wasn't going to be able to teach and hone her self-defense moves, which they would spend roughly twenty minutes every visit.

It was all routine for him. A hundred jumping jacks, then sit ups, push ups, fifty pull ups, burpees and leg squats. Had he not had enough time for the gym, he would have gone swimming in his backyard of the ocean for a mile and a half.

To anyone who looked at how he worked out, it would seem akin to masochism, but in a Commando's eyes, it was merely a warm-up. However at such an early hour, there was hardly anyone else on the workout floor.

With it all done in thirty minutes, Ash moved to the weight machines. He started off with arm curls before triceps and then shoulder and back muscles. Nearly fifty reps on each machine set significantly higher than its average setting. In the middle of that, he headed to the outside to do tire flips. The monster weighed more than seven hundred pounds and the challenge of flipping it over ten times in a row in five minutes was one of the most difficult exercises he did, but it always did good in the end.

A motion caught his eye while on a shoulder machine and he looked up. His stomach decided to knot itself when he made eye contact with Drew Hayden.

It was quite evident that he did not visit the gym many times or he was not a regular. The group of personal trainers at the desk had murmured amongst themselves when they saw him. They were surprised to see that he had a membership card. He wore a black workout shirt and red shorts that looked as if it was what athletes wore a decade ago.

Somehow, the incident over learning how to kill somebody was fresh in Ash's mind and Drew's cockiness was a dead giveaway that he would not be able to walk out without a second one of his arrogant confrontations.

He was right.

Ash had just moved to the next machine, a muscle lateral pull when Drew had come up to stand next to him. His face was a mixture of anger and slyness.

"Hello Ash," Drew was oddly quite happy, betraying the former emotion on his face. Or so it seemed.

"Mr. Hayden." He did not pause in his repetitions. On the other hand, Drew was offset by how much weight that he was using and by looking at Ash, he had barely broken much of a sweat.

"You're not usually here this early." Drew smirked. Tensions of the other day were still present.

"You're not usually here at all." Ash shot back. Something about his expression, his appearance was just maddening. He felt a rush of satisfaction to put the guy's hand at the bottom of the weight machine and let the thing drop right on it. The result would be crushed bones and a bloodcurdling scream.

"Hey, you watch yourself Ash." He mocked, "Remember who ultimately gives you all your resources while on a field operation, especially with your gang of misfit cops. Normally you're quite a respectful guy, but since the last time we spoke you didn't even bother to include one respectful name in there."

More than anything, Ash wanted to just get up and ignore him. "So you're going to put the fact that you give me the toys to do my job? This is a gym, so unless you're here to get yourself into decent shape; get out of my face. I'd like to be left alone."

"You think it's okay to talk back to me? What do you have that I don't? Hold on, I know." Drew held his hand out to stave off a comeback, "I have a net worth of more than half a billion dollars and my boss is nearly three times that. How can you compete with that?"

Ash tapped his stomach, "I have a six pack and it's not one of beer. Four percent body fat I might add. Can you say the same?"

That shut Drew up for a moment as he looked down at his own figure. However, he came at a different angle this time.

"You know I have an idea on why you've suddenly decided to talk back to someone who obviously is in a higher class than you. You've been taking too much after May's mouthy girlfriend. Is it because you're still spending time with May? Even when I explicitly told you to stay away as well?"

"I don't like to talk," Ash felt his irritation grow, "When it comes to a conflict, I solve them with fists and guns, and then talk if necessary."

"That a threat?" Drew asked.

"No," Ash finally stopped on the machine, since this pointless bickering with the business prodigy was pretty much halting any of his efforts for a normal day at the gym. "A threat is more like; leave me alone unless you want to be lying on the floor in bruises with broken bones."

Without another word Ash left the machine.

Drew followed him.

"I don't recall saying I was done with you."

"Then finish up." Ash snapped, "But if you're going to continue on the path we were just on, don't cry because of the consequences."

"To hell with consequences," Drew spat. He leaned forward and extended his hand out. "You stay the hell away from my girlfriend-"

Without warning, Ash shifted his stance and parried the grab, shoving him backwards at the same time. Drew felt as if every tissue in his body was jarred and a wave of fear suddenly crept into the pit of his stomach at an alarming rate. As if Ash's looks weren't intimidating enough, he had hardly put any effort into the push and yet the action had visibly shaken the other man.

"I wouldn't touch me if I were you." He carried an icy tone that would've made a Sealeo shiver.

"Don't push me." Drew snapped back. "You think that just because you're a Commando, you're the ruler of the ring and nobody's ever going to beat you. But in the civilized world, we have a different set of rules and you might be a social reject who can beat up anyone challenging, but that doesn't make you any better."

Social reject? He was partially right. Ash had grown up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country and during school; he wasn't keen on interacting with many people. It was for good reason. By the time he was a high school freshman, most kids his age were either drug addicts, alcoholics, convicted felons, pregnant, in street gangs or all of the above. The matter was severe and yet the place was as close to being lawless as a live fire warzone. Police seldom went there and when they did, it wasn't for very long. Life was just rough, nobody else wanted to try and step in to make changes. Those that made the try didn't garner much support. That's why he wanted to join the Commandos, with enough pay, he and his mother could have moved into Viridian City, where it was much safer.

As he pondered these thoughts, the thing of Drew calling him a social reject made it sound like he was supposed to be an outcast, someone who would be neglected and forgotten once he outlived his usefulness. That was not the case at all. The Federation had enemies…lots of them and he, along with the Commandos and the rest of their military had to be on watch at every second of the day to ward off the threats and tell them that taking on the country was going to be anything but easy.

Seeing Ash's face turn into anger made Drew smile dangerously. He knew he had struck a nerve inside.

"Why you angry?" He taunted, flicking a strand of hair out of his face. "You know it's true right? Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for you and the Commandos as a whole, but when you're here mingling with people that shouldn't give a shit about you as a person, not to mention trying to take my girlfriend from me pisses me off. You know what? YOU as a person piss me off."

"The feeling is mutual."

Drew reached up for Ash's shirt, "Good, so listen clearly. May is mine and you stay-"

Before he could comprehend what happened or even finish his sentence, Ash grabbed the hand and twisted it, earning a yelp of both surprise and pain from the smaller man. Bringing Drew in front, he swept out his legs to knock him to the floor. He landed face first and the soft part of his nose met the hard floor with enough force to cause pain to explode in his face, blood to trickled out of his nose and drip on the floor.

"No, you listen to me pretty boy." Ash gritted his teeth menacingly, "Since I first became a Commando, I am bound by protocol to take action if me or any of my allies are under a threat, regardless of who I report to. Right here, I can take you and slowly break every bone in your damn body without breaking a sweat, five times over. And you're right, maybe I don't have even a fraction of the money you do, but I'd like to see your half billion dollars get you out of this hold."

Drew, sensing that his ego was being challenged, tried to squirm free, but Ash kept a firm grip on his left arm. His right was underneath his body and unable to move unless he shifted his weight. The Commando kept his legs down too, preventing him from doing so and the more he struggled, the more it became futile. Ash had him pinned to the ground.

"Hey!" A couple of the personal trainers had heard the commotion and rounded the corner to see the confrontation. "Break it up! Save the fight for the ring!"

Ash released him, heavily panting and realizing that he just ASSAULTED a business executive, one that reported right to the father of May. The excuse of him having done provoking wouldn't really do him much good.

"Did you see that?" Drew scrambled to his feet and turned to the trainers, "He tried to kill me!" His entire body shook and he managed to point a finger straight at Ash. "You're a monster and I'll make sure that you never come within sighting distance of any normal person for the rest-"

The taller one spoke up, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask the both of you to leave. We cannot and will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our facility. Clear?"

Another trainer brought him a wad of paper towels and he scrunched one up to put over his nose. His rant had been silenced for now as he turned to leave.

"Just so you know, Ketchum, this isn't over." He gave a wicked grin under the blood stained rag, "You're not going to get away with assaulting me."

When he left, Ash remained still, trying to calm himself. He just acted out on his own instinct; identify and contain/annihilate the threat. Drew never worked out and couldn't even hurt someone in an online video game, but he could count as a threat. Not all of them had to be dangerous physically.

Dwelling on the fact that he had used his emotions to get manipulated made his blood boil. This was one thing he had a hard time getting a grip on.

"Sir," The taller of the two trainers stepped forward. From the looks on their faces, they knew what he was capable of and didn't want to be on the receiving end of his anger.

"It's nothing." He brushed past them. "I was just leaving."

"Hey," Tall trainer stopped him, "Was surprised that he had a membership for a year now. Hasn't been in here once."

"Sorry you had to see that," Ash replied, "And I'm sorry I had caused all this trouble."

"Hey, from my perspective, it looks like he had started the confrontation. You do get knee deep into it," He pressed a business card into Ash's hand, "You've got a witness to back you up."

* * *

 **Haven't posted since I've been quite busy last few days and it is likely to continue with longer spaces between additions. How about another chapter to make it up?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	28. Chapter 28

"Good morning," Lieutenant Commander Surge greeted his office personnel as he strode in. A cup of coffee was in his hand and steam curled out from the top. He was crisply dressed in a clean uniform free of wrinkles. The medals on his chest shined from being polished.

"Mornin Commander," The operations director Christian greeted back, "Your voice sounds a little sore. You and Koga put the fresh meat through the grinder again?"

"Right after they completed the Dance of the Red Isle, we then dragged them through a combat scenario in the Mud Puddle." He chuckled, "Never gets old. I always remember when it was my time."

An infamous exercise among Commando training was the Dance of the Red Isle, done usually about a month into their training. The candidates would head to the Whirl Islands, specifically the Red Rock Isle by 0600 hours and embark on a trek up to the summit, led by Koga and his instructors. It was a climb up the lone mountain where they would descend on the far side and then turn around to reverse the route, eventually ending up back where they had originated. They packed their gear, a rifle and were dressed in warm clothing at the start.

The time the dance was conducted was in the early spring and late summer during the unit's biannual selection process, when the chilly mornings would jump to steaming hot temperatures within an hour. The time given to complete the exercise was five hours and the intensity served as a way to weed out candidates that were not apt for further qualification. There were inevitable dropouts with an average withdrawing rate of every four out of nine.

Once that was done, Surge would meet them in Cianwood City to engage in a mock battle of both defensive and invasive strategy. It would be the late afternoon and the men would still be feeling the fatigue from the dance. The daily rain would hit by that time and the abundance of dirt made the humid places by Cianwood extremely muddy in their training reserve. They'd be dropped off at a point with their gear; weapons loaded with Tactical Training Rounds and a team's flag and told to defend it while trying to take the other teams'. Their large camp covered a big part of the forested area by the city and was nicknamed the Mud Puddle.

"They have it easy though," Christian said, "Thanks to the government finding about our traditions and dubbing it as hazing, they forced us to make it less harsh and it lost its purpose."

"There are some that are still good Commandos, despite all that has been baby-proofed." Surge agreed, noticing a video call coming from Maple software. "Huh, Maple Software?"

"Wonder what they want?" Christian asked aloud, having noticed it too, "Delays in our upgrade?"

"I made it pretty clear to Mister Hayden that any further delays could be costly." The commander sighed before hitting the answer key.

Drew was at the other side of the screen, dressed impeccably in his business suit and it looked as if his nose was bruised. Other than that visible injury, his head was lowered and his mouth was neither frowning nor smiling.

"Mister Hayden," Surge curtly began, "Was not expecting a call from you. There something in our deal that wasn't clear?"

"No sir, everything was clear and I assure you that everything in development right now is on schedule, provided I get what I need from this conversation." Drew flicked a strand of his hair, "I've actually come to talk to you about your Commando stationed here in Petalburg sir."

"Lieutenant Ketchum?"

"Yes sir. He assaulted me this morning."

Everyone in the room stiffened at that. Even Surge, who normally had his expression unchanged, save for anger, had been taken aback by that statement.

Commandos were strict in discipline both on and off the field and one of their golden rules was to never abuse their standing as an elite soldier. Sure, they were physically, mentally, tenaciously and strategically superior to any other military unit in the Federation or possibly even the world. However, they were all strictly forbidden from abusing the talents and training against others unless their own or their ally's life or limb was endangered.

Even with this subtle mantle of responsibility over their heads, many people, both friendly and enemy knew better than to piss off a hardened soldier. There had been several incidents before involving Commandos being discharged from duty due to a point where they snapped.

"The Lieutenant assaulted you?"

"Yes sir. He gave me this bruise on my face."

From what he had learned so far, Ash had violated the code and judging from the image of Drew on the screen, it was clear that he had cared just enough to not break his nose.

Maybe he was just lucky.

They were also notorious as well. Military groups were bonded together like brothers without all the close brotherhood, however in the Federation; the Commandos were viewed as the fraternity of all fraternities. Each member had the unique black Houndoom tattoo, usually on their shoulder to show their service within and signify their membership. Psychologically, together, they would be open-minded and jovial, especially when surrounded by fellow members. The mentality of being able to accomplish any task, no matter how difficult was abundant when groups were tightly knit together.

However if they happened to be in company of individuals who were not part of the organization, their behavior would often change to being cold and generally unfriendly, although it was typically not to a degree of utter hostility. One particular thing that stuck since its founding was that the act of berating candidates that withdrew from the training program voluntarily. Knowingly terminating eligibility was considered highly humiliating, enough to feel like death being a better option.

"Hmm,"

"I was in our gym and I found him there. He was being rather rude to me and I told him to mind who he was talking to. That's when it started. First it was a shove and then he swept my legs out and pinned me to the floor, making comments about breaking every bone in my body."

By now, not just Christian was listening, but everyone else too. Hearing that their brother caused such a fiasco was enough to rile everyone in the ops center. Luckily, Christian made the gesture, allowing all the center's personnel to leave and give the Commander a moment to speak with Drew in private.

"Now I thought I would go to the Premier of Hoenn since he is who Lieutenant Ketchum reports to in order to decide on the discipline, but I wanted you as his CO to hear about it first. Any more incidents like this could seriously jeopardize our arrangements."

Surge nodded, "I agree with that. Thank you for giving me light of this incident and I'll deal with Lieutenant Ketchum myself." He lowered his voice, "A word of advice, Mister Hayden. The Commandos are trained to be the best soldiers in the world. One of the biggest rules that is enforced even before they begin training is that they are never to abuse their power or standing on others. While that rule is important, they will engage anyone or anything if they feel that there is a threat towards them or their allies. They do not need permission to do so and will deal with it accordingly. Now Ash is an example of one of the finest soldiers I've ever had under my command and so far, he has never had occurrences of insubordination like this. So I believe, Mister Hayden is the only reason Lieutenant Ketchum would do such an aggressive act to you or anyone else, is because you presented a danger to him." The Commander leaned back from the operations table, "Christian, get Ash on the line."

"Yes Commander."

Drew tried not to grit his teeth, trying not to show his displeasure. This was not how he had planned for things to go.

"Commander, with all due respect, this is a complete waste of time. Lieutenant…Ash had tried to hurt me and I did nothing to threaten him at all. He should be removed and sent back to the Federation because he presents a danger."

"I will deal with Ash if what he says turns out to be true." Surge declared, "However do understand that I do not take kindly to people who are lying to swing attention and approval into their favor." He lowered his voice, "Doesn't matter who they are."

Drew made to reply, but it was cut short as Christian had put Ash's image on screen in a three way channel.

"Commander sir." Ash snapped a crisp salute, dressed in his uniform. He didn't even acknowledge Drew.

"At ease." Commander Surge said, "Now Lieutenant, I believe you are aware why I had Lieutenant Cole here contact you."

"I am sir."

"Very Well. This is a line of work where everyone needs to put aside hostilities and it is not my job here to play principal. Now, let's hear your end of the story."

While the allegation of assaulting someone didn't work out for him, Ash was certain that Drew had made up a complete lie to portray as if he had been the antagonist to start everything, if that wasn't enough; he was certain that Surge didn't really believe much either on what he had said.

So he recalled it from his perspective.

"This morning I was performing my morning drills at the gym," Ash replied, just as if he was at a mission debriefing, "Mister Hayden had arrived as well and before I had gotten to another part of my routine he started to instigate me. He was also particularly insulting the Commandos and myself. He tried to grab my shirt and I warned him not to do it again. The insults continued and the issued warning was ignored. I took it as a threat and acted to how I saw fit to neutralize it."

"I see." Surge nodded his head, "Mister Hayden, I didn't get quite the entire story from you."

"So?" Drew asked in disbelief, shooting a glare at Ash. "Still it gives him no right to do what he did back there. Is it okay for him to toss me around the floor like that? I don't think him or any other people like him should be around normal people because we might instigate them and piss them off like a rampaging Salamence!"

It didn't take an analyst to see that Drew's bigoted talk was beginning to irk Ash, Surge and nearly all the rest of the Commandos listening in. While they knew that insults came their way, seeing someone boldly dish it out was new and they didn't take too nicely to the choice of words.

"I am well aware of controlling my emotions," Ash said.

"What?"

"You're absolutely right. Maybe I do act and smash others to bits just because they piss me off, but I save it for the enemies of the Federation. It's a waste of my energy and strength to pick on someone with the likes of you. I have more important things to get done. Take my advice Drew; grow the fuck up."

Then he disconnected his transmission.

Back at the operations center, many of the personnel murmured to one another on their agreement. Christian included.

Looking towards Ash's superior officer for his support, there was no way he could back out of the deal, since he was aware that he was the one to instigate the scene with Ash and withdrawing meant widespread humiliation. The media sure could use a juicy story like a Federation soldier attacking a businessman as they were having a majority approval rating for most of Hoenn, but the deal was mutually beneficial and by the time Surge released details, much of the media and Drew's allegations would be worthless.

"Thank you for the report Mister Hayden."

* * *

 **Drew should have known that ratting off Ash's antics and the allegation of insulting the Commandos to his superior officer was not a very smart idea.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	29. Chapter 29

May nearly threw her phone down in frustration after attempting to call Drew's cell. Every time, her phone was routed to his office where his secretary, Solidad would relay the message every time that he was unavailable at the time. Already, she had left a message with her saying that he needed to call back as soon as possible. That was more than an hour ago.

It was only one night before the enormous bash at the Maple manor and every second felt dreadful to her, knowing the chains would be put back on when she was in the presence of him and her father. If it were up to her, the gathering would instead be herself, Dawn, Ash, his Jets team and a few friends over a barbeque and beer. Maybe even watch Petalburg's pro basketball team if they were playing that night.

Instead, the guest list numbered almost a hundred people, some of which she had never known and the rich kind of food that stuck in the stomach after eating maybe a spoonful.

Never had she wanted to contract a cold or something to opt out this much in her life. And canceling the party would be absurd in Norman's eyes. Supposedly the bash was for her and Max for their accomplishments over the years and just to have fun, but she easily knew that it was a ploy. More importantly, it doubled as a front to Norman's wealth so that he and Drew could conduct business while at a leisurely pace.

She was staying with Dawn tonight in her small condo since her best friend was kind enough to offer a place to crash if she got fed up with her own father.

"What's wrong?" Dawn came around the corner holding a cheese strudel. She set the pastry down next to May, but the girl had no appetite.

"I can't seem to get ahold of Drew."

"You're overreacting."

"No I'm not. Every minute he doesn't respond is one more moment he's going to be more pissed off than a Ninjask. I told Ash I planned to break it off with him the other day, but the party's drawing closer."

"Was Ash invited?"

"Yeah."

"It'll be easy to keep the two of them away from one another," Dawn chided, "Like the party does every year, Drew will probably be busied with all his business associates and Ash will be with me, since I'm probably the only one he will know there besides you and Max. Don't worry, we'll work this out."

"I don't even want Drew at the party!"

"How did your dad take that?"

"Not too well," May lowered her head and sighed, "Oh Arceus, what have I gotten myself into?"

Dawn started to giggle like a little schoolgirl.

"What's so funny?"

"Think about it this way," She said, holding out her hands, "Over here," She lifted her left one, "You have this cute, wealthy, overprotective businessman and over here," She lifted her right palm, "You have this badass Commando turned policeman who loves to thrill you and is head over heels over you."

May laughed with her, "I sure have it going on don't I?"

"Boy magnet much?"

"Really. Don't worry about anything, I have a feeling that Ash will be in your corner no matter what. Maybe even in your bed one day without any clothes on."

"Dawn!"

"What? He's probably amazing rolling in the sack! Is he at least a good kisser?"

May smiled to herself, "You have no idea."

"You're falling in love May. I can't believe it. Just weeks ago, the idea of something like this would never have crossed my mind, but now I'm happy for you. Now go out and follow those feelings. Don't listen to anyone else around you."

"Thanks Dawn."

She hugged her back, "That's what best friends are for."

* * *

"Hey, has May invited you to her party tomorrow?" Decker stuck his head into the interrogation chamber.

Both Ash and their suspect, a young woman looked back over. The JETS had been on her trail after she and a group of cash hungry college students had turned to hostage taking of precious metal refining in order to get themselves out of debt.

It was both comical and sad at the same time.

"I'll be back," Ash menacingly told her as he exited the place.

Once the door was shut, he nodded in affirmation, "Yeah, she did. I even got a present. Why?"

"It's tomorrow."

"Shit. I'm not even ready."

"You sure it's a good idea to go to it?" He folded his arms.

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"What if it's not about her?" Brendan inquired, "What if it's because she wants to use you as leverage over her father? Ash, she's using you!"

"Using me as what? An excuse?! Hardly!"

"Why else would she want you there? You're clearly not her father's favorite person and he goes over the guest list. Last time I checked, you got a restraining order placed on you and even if it wasn't, you'd be the first name to be scratched off."

"What's your point?"

"Whatever it is, the outcome could seriously shake the integrity of the JETS. Another falling out with Mr. Maple could damage or even terminate us as a unit and I do not want that to happen. We are essential for the country's security and there are more vicious enemies to fight than one of our own businesses."

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Don't go to the party. I know May invited you, but it's just asking for trouble."

"I've already accepted," Ash told him, "I can't back out now. It'll break May's heart."

Brendan thought over it for a moment before nodding, "Fine. I'm sorry I came off as accusing there, just be careful in what you do. Okay?"

"You got it."

"I'm in your corner man. That's what partners are for."

After finally regaining the urge to eat, May and Dawn had a small dinner just as her phone rang.

"Is it Drew?"

May picked it up out of her pocket and read the caller's name. It was Ash.

"Ash."

"Answer it and ask him how fast he can take off your clothes!" Dawn busted.

For a moment May wanted to throw the phone into her forehead, but she hit the answer button anyway.

"Hello?"

"May," Ash's calm voice flooded from the other side, "How are you doing?"

"Great," She blushed, thinking about Dawn's earlier statement, "Thanks to hearing your voice."

"I'm glad to hear that. Listen, I just wanted to double check and let you know that I will be in attendance to your party. I got your present and I think you are going to really like it."

"I'm excited," May lied, "You're going to be there."

"May, I have to ask. Why do you want me there?"

"What?"

"Why are you inviting me to your party with your dad already aware of what's going on? Is it because you truly want me to come over, or is it to spite him?"

"Both." May said after a moment of silence, "I want him to know that you are now a part of my life."

"And if he doesn't accept me?"

May held back tears, wondering for the hundredth time why her father just couldn't put aside all prejudice he had and see Ash for who he really was. HE could be very stubborn, but at the same time if he sat down and finally got used to Ash's presence, maybe the one-sided tension between the two could finally clear.

"He has to."

Ash wasn't sure about that. Norman didn't seem like the guy who would conform to whatever his children wished. Only time was able to tell, but he had spent a good period of time reading people. It may have come off as hostile because most of the time he was observing the populace in a Commando or JETS uniform.

* * *

May stood, invisibly next to her father as elegantly dressed guests filed into the house.

Housekeeping staff hired for the event had spent hours preparing and making sure that all decorations and the overall layout of the house was presentable. Of course the party was off limits upstairs, where their personal quarters were.

At the front door, Archie was validating people and checking their identity with a guest list. Of course word of the party would spread and sometimes people would try to sneak in. He had already caught and dismissed three trespassers claiming to be good friends of May.

Everyone was all in good spirits, giving their host and his daughter cordial greetings before mingling with everyone else in the main rooms. Platters of delicious appetizers were laden on the counters and every couple of mines, one could hear the cork popping from a bottle of wine. Soft classical music drifted from that direction, thanks to a five man strings ensemble that had gotten the top ratings at the Lilycove Musical Gathering.

Drew walked up to them as he entered the house before gently cradling May's hand and kissing it.

"You look beautiful May."

She wished Ash was here now, but still couldn't help blushing. "Thanks. Listen Drew, I'm sorry about all this. We need to talk though,"

"It's alright. Hang on, I see Mister Thomas over there and I've been trying to get ahold of him on some business contracts."

"We need to talk Drew," May pleaded.

"We will, when the party's over. Trust me, I want to talk to you about things too."

"Okay,"

"Good." Drew gave her a chaste kiss before moving off, "I'll see you later."

She made a move to follow him, but felt her father's hand on her shoulder, "May, just let him go. Don't worry, he'll be back."

So then she had to stand there and greet guests while Max, who was extremely bored of these parties had two of his friends over and dashed upstairs earlier to play on his game consoles. It was all painstakingly long and it felt like an eternity until Ash had showed up. In reality, it was only a half hour later.

"Pleasure to see you Mister Maple," Ash's commanding voice pierced the flurry of chatter and the music like a knife. He was dressed in a handsome charcoal colored suit with black slacks and a blue tie. His face was free of any hair and May could feel the warmth radiating from his eyes as they drifted onto her.

For him, it took a lot of his strength to not put any venom in it, but he was here for May and not Norman, who was probably less than pleased to hear he'd been extended an invitation. The Lieutenant extended a hand out, which was hanging for several seconds without a response from the host. Every moment passing made Ash feel as if he wasn't an invited guest, but rather an intruder.

Finally Norman extended his hand out and shook his. Ash gingerly squeezed it. As much as he disliked the guy, he did save May's life. "Lieutenant."

"Hi May," He reached up and kissed her hand, "You look stunning."

She giggled, "Thanks. Dad, is it okay if the Lieutenant gets me a drink?"

Norman nodded and Ash looped his arm around hers, leading her to the kitchen. He found a bottle of Pinot Grigio, her favorite variety and poured them both a chalice.

As they walked though, people couldn't help but turn and admire their appearance. With May's dress and Ash looking sharp in his suit, they made a very striking couple.

"Who's that with May?" Ash heard someone ask.

"Is he a lawyer?"

"Nah, he has to be a model of some kind!"

He had to admit that he enjoyed the mystery vibe he gave off to the other guests. The less they knew about him, the better.

"Thank you so much for coming." She said as they leaned on the balcony to overlook the cityscape, "I don't know how much longer I could have lasted with all that scrutinizing." May was wondering how Ash was going to take on how she hadn't broken it off with Drew yet. She wanted the opportunity, but it always seemed to be swallowed by her father or some other guest who wanted to chat.

"I think half the city is here."

"And the party's for me and Max, yet he's upstairs playing video games with his friends and I don't even know four people here."

"How about when this is all over, we go to one of our places for a cookout, where all the important people in your life will be in attendance." Ash reminded her. "Oh yes, I forgot," He took out a box from his suit pocket. "This is for you."

"Ash you didn't have to-"

"Just open it."

May carefully slid the box open to find sunglasses? She looked over at Ash, puzzled.

He chuckled, "NAVSpecs, essentially a heads-up-display that can pick up signals from almost any satellite even when you're a hundred feet underground. No matter where you are at, just by voice command, it will guide you to wherever you want to go. We Commandos use these, except this one is modified for civilian use. Even if you're lost in the wilderness, it will give you the quickest and safest route back onto a road or nearby town. Even if you come to a barrier like a river, just redirect it and it will have an alternate path for you in thirty seconds."

May stared wide eyed at the eyewear. The things she could do with it were amazing. Now she would never ever be lost again. "What if it's dark?"

"The lenses have adjustable tint that can be automatic or manual and it even has somewhat of a night-vision ability too."

"I love it!" May enveloped her hands around Ash in a truly genuine hug, "This is something I've wanted my whole life and it's really fashionable too!"

"No more losing your way,"

"Ash I have to tell you something," May started, but was interrupted by the footsteps of Norman behind her.

"There you are May!" He sounded relieved, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I haven't moved here since Ash escorted me away," She annoyingly huffed.

He ignored it, "Could you come with me please?"

"Dad?"

Ash put an arm on her shoulder, "I'll be right here when you come back okay?"

She nodded and let Norman escort her back to the foyer. He had rallied the majority of partygoers there and something spiked a bit of curiosity in Ash, so he followed.

After calling for everyone's attention and thanking them for coming, Norman did the thing Ash least expected.

He gestured towards the Commando, who stood amongst the crowd, "And to help me, I would like to salute Lieutenant Ash Ketchum of the Joint Enforcement Tactical Specialst Urban Warfare Team for saving my daughter from Syndicate members, saving me from grieving for the rest of my life." The room erupted in cheers and Ash held up his glass of wine in acknowledgement.

"Wonder if he has a bucket I can throw up in," He muttered under his breath.

"As a big thanks to all the gifts you have given my daughter and son, the biggest one for May came not from her family. Well yet."

Ash was curious to see what he had meant by that and he witnessed Drew emerging from the far side of the room. He was dressed in a tuxedo and the Commando spotted a black box hidden behind his hand.

It took him a split second to realize what had happened. What May was going to confess to him. She decided to stay with Drew. His heart stopped.

The man got down on a knee and opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring he had ever seen.

"May, my life changed forever when I met you-"

Both Ash and May couldn't hear what he was saying, only their thoughts on the other person and what they would think in the aftermath.

"May, will you join me in marriage?"

She felt hundreds of eyes on her and tried to respond, but could only gasp.

"Say no," Ash breathed quietly.

"Yes…" She barely whispered, "I'll marry you…"

"She said yes!" Drew exclaimed, grabbing May and kissing her. The crowd cheered and toasted the new couple. Even Ash's normally stoic expression had faded and he was in complete shock.

Norman saw him in the crowd and reveled when the two of them made eye contact. One of them grinning and the other frowning.

* * *

 **This was long overdue, hope everyone can forgive me for the long gap.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	30. Chapter 30

May frantically tried to search for Ash as everyone was all cheering, congratulating and proposing toasts. The noise felt overwhelming and yet she continued trying her best to focus.

When Drew knelt down, the only thing that raced through May's mind when she saw the ring was how Ash would react. Would he be ecstatic or angry?

"May," Norman whispered in her ear after the famous four worded question lingered for several seconds, "Do not embarrass him in front of everybody."

More than anything, she would say yes and then tell him no later, but how was she able to communicate that with Ash without her father picking up on it. And even if they broke it off, he;d be heartbroken and she wasn't sure it was going to be amendable afterwards.

Avoiding everyone possible, she pulled Drew outside on the deck, smiling superficially at the people who gave the couple their congratulations. Ash was nowhere to be seen and she made eye contact with Dawn, who also had no idea where he had gone.

"Congratulations," Drew beamed, pulling her in for a kiss, "We're engaged now."

"Drew," May breathed, suddenly at a loss for words, "I can't. I can't marry you."

"What?" His face turned to shock, "Why not?"

"I just can't marry you." She stifled, "I'm sorry."

At first she thought that Drew would understand. On similar issues where she was having a tough time, he was often there, albeit not immediately, but still present to support her for as long as she needed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He angrily spat, "I've put up with you, your damn father and your bratty brother for years and this is how you repay me? Tell me, how have you done the same?"

"Of course," May's face was starting to rim with tears, "I've been there for you, I've supported you through everything." She sniffled, "But Drew, I can't marry you. You have to understand. If that's not the case, why did you ask?"

"You owe me and so does your father! This proposal was his idea in the first place!"

"Of course!" May was starting to get angry...and sarcastic. Angry that once again her father was the driving force behind this "forced marriage" and that it wasn't by Drew's own initiative. "The two of you love to control what's happening in my life! I don't owe you or him anything at all!"

Drew was about to retort, but held himself back. If he wanted a foothold in the company, he would need this marriage to work. "Please May, whatever's bothering you, we can work it out. I promise."

He leaned in for another kiss.

Only for May to shove him back, "No Drew. I don't love you the same way you love me. It's over." She solemnly looked down, "I'm sorry." Right now it was apparent that he was adamant on being her husband. Part of her wanted to at least end their relationship on acquaintances, but seeing his intention, she wouldn't care if she saw him again. Her answer would remain unchanged, even if they were the last two humans on the planet.

She took the ring off her finger and handed it back.

Instead of taking it, he grabbed it and threw it across the room, where it hit the wall next to an expensive looking drawer and disappeared behind. Rather than becoming angry again, he began laughing and his face contorted into a rather malicious grin.

"You and that little fucking game you're playing with that Ketchum person! Do you really think you'll have a long lasting relationship with him? He's a killer and he'd probably get a good fuck outta you and then mount your tits on the wall when he's done!" He blew out from his lips in frustration and flicked his hair, "I would have divorced you anyway after I got a good fuck myself!"

"Get out!" May screamed, "Now!"

Drew laughed, "Look at you. All furious because we've ruined your little fantasy! Watching after you is like an unruly kid! This and your pathetic excuse of a friend were the reasons I would have never want something to last with you!"

"And you're an asshole!"

He turned to leave the room but stopped, "Just you wait May. One day the three of you are going to suffer and I'll be sitting at on my throne to watch every agonizing second of it!"

Her now ex-fiancee shut the door hard enough to knock the old Maple family portrait on the wall free from its mount and caused the glass to shatter into pieces.

* * *

Drew sat at the deck bar next to the backyard and tilted the glass up to down the last of the scotch inside. He set it down next to another empty one and gestured the bartender for another. He finally managed to recompose himself and think of a way to salvage his placement from the brink.

Norman approached him from his left, "Where did May go after you talked with her?"

"I don't know," Drew waved it off like it was just another problem, "And frankly, I don't fucking care."

Another glass of scotch was placed in front and he reached for it. However Norman stepped in and placed a hand over the drink. His eyes roamed Drew in search of something amiss, but he placed it right away. May broke it off with him.

"That's enough to drink,"

"Enough?" His former son-in-law looked over angrily, "Enough huh? What about you? Don't you think you've had enough. I had May! I HAD HER! Until you had to force my hand into an early proposal!"

"We had this going on for weeks now Drew. Besides, she was spending too much time with Ketchum and it was now or she'd never agree."

"Norman you don't know the first thing about women do you? You tell them they can't have or do something and their drive for it multiples tenfold! I don't know where May is and same goes for Ketchum. So I'm going to guess they ran off somewhere to fuck together!" He chuckled to himself, "This is what I get for being the loyal one who puts in years of dedication and time. I was supposed to run the company after the marriage and now I'm assuming that plan is in ruins."

"Well it is not my fault that you couldn't hold the relationship together. You could have been there immediately to see her when she woke up. I even tried calling you. Where the hell were you when she was endangered?"

"I don't think that would have made a difference." Drew reflected back on that day where he was smitten with a rather attractive member of the communications company Maple Software was cooperating with. He remembered several of flirting attempts and successful convincing to take her out for the night. Flashbacks of his convertible car racing alongside the beaches in Petalburg with the top down and reaching her apartment. From there, the two of them had torn their clothes off one another and collapsed onto the bed.

That night, he had some damn good sex and he never regretted it.

Until now.

He had shut his phone off that night so that he wouldn't be disturbed and woke up when multiple missed calls and text notifications came from Norman about the kidnapping.

"I told you what I said that day. I lost my phone, but now it doesn't matter does it? What is my deal with the company?"

Norman glared back at him, "How am I supposed to let a man run the company when he can't even manage my daughter? I was the one who set it all up and I gave her to you! All you had to do was love and care for her like a proper boyfriend and now husband! Your own negligence was what cost you!"

He stormed off without another word, leaving Drew to his thoughts.

The scotch was downed and he asked for another one. He was in complete disbelief of what had happened. There was no point in trying to undo what Ash had meddled with.

He was so close to finally gaining control of the company and the thought of billions of more dollars flowing into his accounts and net worth, only to have it crushed because the key to it had run off with another man that fit her type.

"No old man," Drew swore to himself, "You brought this upon me and you're going to fucking pay for it."

* * *

May took her car and drove directly to Ash's house. Passing by, she noticed that no lights were on in his house.

Was he at work? He didn't work this late. Then again, he was law enforcement, so he was therefore on call at any given time.

She steered the car in a U-turn and got back onto the highway, headed for the JETS' headquarters.

Pulling up, she now noticed that all of their cars were parked in the storage sheds. This was not happening. Ash was unable to be contacted and anything she said wouldn't make him forgive her. The longer time passed without his presence or voice, the longer her heart began to ache for him.

She burst into the front entrance and scrambled towards the security desk at the front. The woman there looked over and seemed to be unperturbed at her desperation. She did recognize her though.

"I need to see Lieutenant Ketchum."

"May, I can't let you past there."

"Why? Is it because there's something secret?"

"No, the JETS' area is locked."

"What do you mean locked?"

"Lieutenant Ketchum and his team left for the Air Force Base on a major operation ten minutes ago."

* * *

 **Here you go! Y'all deserve another update! Poor May is caught in this crazy love game and Ash is now giving the cold shoulder. Maybe some time out on duty to shoot bad guys will help.**

 **A big thanks to all who favorite and follow this story. This one has more than any other piece of work I've written on this site and maybe one day, I'll be able to break the 100 milestone in both those categories.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	31. Chapter 31

With the sound of dual rotors of their helicopter making deafening beats overhead, Ash slipped on a pair of ear protectors as he walked towards the back of the cabin.

"Check all of your gear," He informed everyone curtly, "Once we're deployed, there's no going back."

He stopped in front of Zack, who had popped open the weapons lockers and beginning to outfit everyone's of choice. "Where's your handgun?" The noise was so dominant that he had to yell over it.

In response, he lifted up his uniform to reveal the holster. The P226 Navy was colored tan and brown with a special desert camouflage applied to it. Similarly, it was also going to be on all of their weapons.

Across the troop bay sat Jewell, who laid her sniper rifle out on the bench and deep in concentration as she was tailoring the settings and instruments on her prized weapon using a fine set of screwdrivers.

Ash laid a hand on her shoulder, "When we're approaching the target building, you and Damien are setting up on the ridgeline to provide sniper support. We'll be flushing them out from the other end, so they'll be headed your guys' way."

"That means you'll have to take the long way around,"

"Leave that part to me." He said, heading to the front, "Listen up everyone!" At that, all other four JETS turned to him.

"You all know the drill and what I and the top brass expect of you. Our intelligence sources have picked up our target building as the Syndicate's main base of operations and there's rumors that Harley himself is there to conduct a deal going down that could get them financial security for years. It's also our chance to show the rest of Hoenn who's really protecting Petalburg and our capabilities! Now it's not going to be easy. The people of Fallarbor Town may hate the Syndicate, but they sure as hell have people working for them as couriers and informants. Even our very sighting could tip them off to our approach and compromise what has been in planning for weeks. Needless to say, there's just about zero room for error." He halted to see if everyone was listening.

"Who's got my back?!"

"I GOT YOUR BACK!" They shouted in unison.

"Who's got my back?!" Ash repeated.

"I GOT YOUR BACK!"

"That's what I want to hear!"

"Ash, you buying the first cold ones when we're done?" Zack propped.

"You ask Zack and you buy," This got a chuckle from the rest of the team. Ash then left the main cabin to speak to their pilot.

"Ash is really pushing hard," Arron said, "Is he okay?"

On the other side, Decker had just fitted a magazine into his rifle and he stopped, inhaling sharply. Out of everyone, he was the only one to know what happened between him and May. Damien and Jewell glanced at one another and shrugged.

"He's fine," Brendan said, "Whatever is gnawing at his mind, he's going to put it aside. We all have a job to do."

"Still," Damien piped up, "There's just something that's off. He sounds like he's beating himself up."

"I agree," Jewell added, "Brendan is he okay?"

Decker looked back and saw that Ash was still in the cockpit. He looked back and tapped the side of his face; he was going to open a private chat.

When the other three had connected, Brendan felt a pang of regret with what he was going to do. This may hurt his trust, but if it helped in the long run, it could just get things off his chest and over with already.

"You all remember that girl May. The one Ash saved onboard the Sea Mauville?"

"Yes,"

"Well things have been a little tense with them and she eventually decided to marry Drew Hayden, whom she was seeing before she met Ash."

"What?" Jewell gasped, "Why? They were so good together!"

"I don't know." Brendan said, "But we can't let that decision nag at our minds. Like I said, we have a job to do."

"We have to do something though, May didn't seem like she really wanted to be with Drew."

"I don't think she had much of a say."

Brendan was about to jump in when Ash suddenly opened the door and headed back into the main cabin.

"Guys, we're sixty from the drop. Get the Zangoose ready."

Working together, he, Decker and Damien quickly undid the straps holding the five desert painted ATVs in the center bay. Weapons were passed around, magazines placed in their harnesses and the engines ignited.

"Make sure you got water," Ash reminded everyone, "We're in the middle of the desert here."

"Copy that," As the team began final preparations at the thirty second mark, Brendan approached Ash.

"You good?"

All he got was a nod. That was all that he needed.

"Five! Four! Three! Two One! It's go time. Call when you need the ride back."

The bay door hissed open and for a second, blinding light streamed through the side, but much of it was quickly gone as their facemasks adjusted to counteract.

Tapping their throttles, they eased out and made the ten foot drop onto the sand. They flexed their bodies to take the shock of the impact and as soon as Jewell had cleared the bay, the pilot quickly rose up and began to fly south back to the air force base in Mauville.

Ash brought up a map on his HUD and plotted a course, "We're set. All we need to do is cross this desert around the base of Mount Chimney. Since the target building is at the southeast side, we'll stash the Zangoose bikes in the ash fields and then hoof it to our setup point."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good. We're Oscar Mike."

Revving the engine, Ash took point and the rest followed in a straight line. The fat tires kicked up puffs of sand and the rolling hills were no match to wearing out the bike's flexible frames. The temperature was just shy of a hundred degrees with sweat beginning to bead on their bodies. Ash reached down at his hip and took a swig of water. He had two bottles and if the entire team were stranded, they each had enough hydration to last them for twelve hours. Fortunately, they weren't going to be in the desert for long.

A sandstorm was blowing to their south and headed away from them as it took the better part of an hour before they finally began to see vegetation. Another twenty minutes, the terrain began to even out as the air suddenly was beginning to thin out and ash from the dominant volcano began to appear on the ground. Uniquely, it could also be used to make glass products, an industry Fallarbor had several companies for.

The town had an estimated population of a thousand people and its location made it rather isolated from the rest of Hoenn. No highways were constructed, although talks of one heading towards Rustboro City were rumored to go around Meteor falls and through a tunnel further north. Thus people here had little contact with the rest of the country and it was only accessible through backroads.

Nevertheless, the town had its own airstrip to the west although during the high volcanic activity periods, it had to be closed down due to the ash potentially clogging aircraft engines.

It wasn't long before they spotted the buildings and veered off the main roads to park their vehicles in a thicket. They shut off the engines and Ash rolled out a large gray tarp to cover them. For fifteen minutes, they erased their tracks that came off the road and concealed the vehicles next to a few bushes that closely resembled them all underneath. Some more of the volcanic ash was spread over the tarp to make the ruse even more deceiving. Decker had arranged a pile of rocks beside the stash and besides that, none of them could see the bikes from twenty feet out.

"Everyone good?" Ash asked.

"Affirmative,"

"Let's move," As a group, the team clustered in a two/three formation through the trees. They had to move carefully as a slight jarring of a tree could cause the ash hanging on its branches to fall down and it was both easily seen and heard.

On point, Ash scanned the outskirts as dusk began to fall. Lights were being snapped on as the owners of the small businesses at the downtown area closed for the day. He noticed that there wasn't even a hospital, just a small practitioner office. It was fairly amazing if that was the best healthcare option to the residents. With the dismal atmosphere, the presence of an armed gang and the gray everywhere that seemed to never fail in depressing, he was tempted to call this place "Hoenn's Pallet"

Not if he could help it. Maybe he could turn this place around to somewhere people would want to live. Of course that meant eradicating the Syndicate's foothold here.

He motioned Jewell and Damien to take a sniper overwatch on a hill just behind the last row of buildings. From there, she was able to take out any hostiles fleeing from the back of the house.

The target building was a standard two story house that actually seemed to be in rather good shape as with the rest of the neighboring residences. Maybe people did live a better life here than he expected.

"Thermal scan complete." Jewell reported in his headset, "Multiple heat signatures in the basement and four on the main level."

"We'll be cutting the power," Ash replied, "Stand by to engage."

"Standing by."

Nearby the power box had several metal cables extending to various parts of the house. Zack had knelt down and got to work. The master of explosives, he was taking apart the components of a blast charge to tune it down for permanently disabling while being shaped to cause no additional damage.

As he was placing the explosive onto the box, a rapid rattle of gunshots suddenly came from inside the house. The entire JETS team froze.

"What the hell?" Damien echoed over the comms.

"Move!" Ash signaled Zack, who triggered the charge. The power box and its circuits exploded with a flash and a popping sound before the lights inside snapped off, plunging it and its inhabitants into darkness.

"Go!" Ash reared back his foot and kicked in the door. Their visors provided instant night vision and they spread out with their weapons trained in front.

"Upstairs,"

"Ash, the men inside have fired on one another, they're in the basement."

"Understood Jewell." Ash looked over to Brendan and made a chopping motion with his left hand. Having understood the order, the two of them quickly located the basement entrance just beside the kitchen. Down there, a rattling of gunshots could be heard and based on the sound and pace of the weapons, there had to be at least a half dozen.

"Jewell, any alternate way in the basement?"

"There's a door that faces outside and I have visual on two of the guys."

"Affirmative, don't fire unless they flee out the back."

Slowly proceeding downstairs, Ash took a peek around the corner.

The basement was filled with thick smoke and the muzzle flashes temporarily seemed to blind his vision.

On the side closer to him were five men, all with submachine guns, keeping the other side pinned down. He was unable to see how many there were, but it was likely they were taken by surprise.

The party closer to them seemed to want to escape out the stairs and had turned around to see the two of them.

Ash and Brendan aimed, opening fire. The first two caught the hailstorm of bullets straight in their chest, dropping to the ground and causing the rest of their friends to look over. Their presence made then back off slightly, returning fire.

It was only a matter of time before either side ran out of bullets, but the party on the other side quickly took advantage of the situation by firing a stream of bullets from multiple guns across the basement. They buried themselves into the wall, making hideous sounds and splintering bits of wood and stone everywhere.

"Keep the guys closer pinned!" Ash yelled out, "I'm moving!"

At his word, he broke cover and Brendan sprayed a volley of rounds over their heads. Ash fired straight back just as one of them rose up…taking a bullet in the shoulder. He turned tail and opened the back screen door.

A quiet ping through the second one caused his body to jerk before collapsing.

Jewell had been rock solid.

Ash found his rifle running out of ammo and he quickly slung it onto his back, whipping out his sidearm and already double tapping the guy without even bothering to precisely aim.

The third guy was still hiding behind a table when Ash vaulted over it with one hand, his legs struck his body and caused him to stumble back.

For a moment the two men stared at one another, but the other man seemed hostile to the masked one in front and reached for his weapon.

Just as another one of Jewell's well place sniper shots went straight through the back of his head. The round missed Ash's own body by six inches.

"Duck," She instructed.

Ash dropped to the floor as another round sailed right into the body of another bad guy.

"We clear?"

From the back of the room there was a burst of gunfire, "We're clear." Decker confirmed.

"Upstairs is clear," Zack echoed, "Are you guys done shooting yet?"

"Yeah," Ketchum sighed, "Let's drop the beacon for the other boys and get on out of here. I feel like a I need a shower."

"I feel like we need a barbeque," Decker agreed, "Anyone up for a get together tomorrow night?"

Everyone agreed and they began to file out.

As Ash walked among the bodies and taking pictures of the scene with his armor, he didn't find Harley amongst the group, but something odd and when he scanned a couple more of the corpses, the oddity suddenly became alarming.

"Oh no," He said under his breath.

"What?"

"Don't worry about it Zack," Ash said, "Beacon's dropped?"

"Affirmative, Hoenn army's coming back to Fallarbor in ten mikes."

"No other sign of hostile forces. Then let's get out of here."

It was a much more relaxed trek back to their bikes, which thankfully had been undiscovered. The tarp was peeled away and the team mounted up before heading back the same way they came.

Overall their mission had taken a total of forty three minutes from drop to their departure from the target zone. It was an overwhelming success and now Harley no longer had Fallarbor under his shadowy influence. He was running out of places to hide and when the time was right, Ash and the rest of the JETS would nail him and bring his empire down for good.

Much of the chatter from his team was about how they were going to celebrate today's victory, but Ash…Ash's mind was only on one thing.

He had to get this back to Surge. Those fatigues on the bodies…he had seen them before and they usually spelt trouble wherever they went. If they were on Hoenn, then bad things were headed to the island nation's direction.

Reviewing the images once again, there was no mistake of the green and black colored battle uniforms or the dark set of double silver bars with a single star in the middle.

That was the insignia of a Captain in the Imperial armed forces.

* * *

 **It's true in whatever fashion, there is nothing good when an aggressive Empire shows up on your doorstep! Still, what are Imperial forces doing meeting up with Harley's Syndicate? Could this be something to do with Ash?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	32. Chapter 32

It was nearly midnight when Ash pulled his car into the driveway of his home. As the headlights swept over the side, he was surprised and curious wondering why May's car was parked out front.

There was no real reason for him to stick around after the proposal. Once the bash was over, he was to lead the Jets into a mission out north. Part of him felt sadness. She was bright, sweet and had the looks to be featured on the cover of a sports magazine, but instead of him, she chose Drew.

Was it because she was pressured by him? Her father? She was a consenting adult and had the free will to refuse. Now that would be a risk as the billionaire could cut of financial support if she and Ash were in a struggle, but he had a stable job and it seemed that it wasn't bound to leave unless he was unable to continue. He still had a few months left to pay off, but overall, he was quite proud of his new home.

Ash felt like he was being watched and looked at the window as he engaged the brake.

Standing in the front door was May, looking out at him. She shivered in the cold night air and wore long sleeved clothing. No jacket. She casually leaned on the column by the porch almost expectantly.

The Commando emerged and popped open his trunk to retrieve his gear. In one hand, he had all his protective vest and armor and in his other, he held his assault rifle.

"Congratulations," Ash flatly said, "I wish you all the best."

"Ash,"

"What?"

"Please hear me out." May pleaded.

"Hear you out on what? I'm not exactly in a talking mood right now so can it wait until the morning?" Ash snapped, "I need some sleep. Are you coming in or not?"

He moved past her and closed the door. May immediately noticed he had not bothered to hold it open for her and right now she didn't blame him.

Now it felt as if everyone except Dawn had turned their backs on her. Drew pretty much revealed his true intentions; Norman knew her decision and Ash wasn't going to be convinced otherwise.

She had some making up to do.

Ash was sitting on his bed after setting the furnace when May entered. She never had seen him look so defeated and for the first time, she saw him just as someone else.

The twin black thunderbolt tattoos went down the front of his shoulders and he had his head down. May smelled a fresh citrus scent of deodorant, wondering why he put it on at night. In reality, Ash applied it twice a day due to the amount of perspiration he had.

"I gave Drew the ring back," She stated, "I should have known right from the start that he and I were not meant to be."

"Are you saying that to make me happy?" Ash asked, "Or is it because it's truly what you want?"

"Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you May, I'm just disappointed. It feels as if everything we've worked on was thrown down the pipe in an instant. I suppose you would only know if you've ever had your heart broken before."

"And what?" She argued, "Disapprove in front of my father? He'd cut off any support, plus I don't want to disappoint him!"

"You've already disappointed him!" Ash shot back, "Your father hates my guts and I still don't have a damn clue why!" He sighed heavily, "May, you know that we have something here that neither of us intended to happen, but we let it flow and look what ended up. I had just hoped that you would've already figured it out! Just like I said to you back on that island, I would never leave you. And that is exactly what you did to me."

"I did figure it out," She whispered, sitting beside him, "Ash, have you been so lonely your whole life?"

She looked over when he didn't respond.

"No."

"Was there ever a Mrs. Ketchum?"

He paused, before slowly nodding, "Yes, there was."

"You break her heart?"

"She broke mine."

The fact that he had been down this road before made her feel ten times more guilty about putting him through this. She thought that one heartbreak was bad enough and here she was trying to save it from happening again.

But could the damage be undone?

"Ash," She put an arm around his shoulders, "I'm so so sorry." Tears began to form in her eyes as she sniffled, "I'm sorry I broke your heart again,"

Rather than reply, Ash brought her face up to him and he leaned down. They kissed and May suddenly felt an electric shock of a sensation as he snaked his tongue past her lips. The feeling was completely foreign to her, but the bliss level had multiplied.

She worked with a frenzy with her free hands, making her way down to the boxer shorts he wore to sleep while his hands felt along her backside, positioning himself atop her. Never in his life had he wanted to strip the clothes off both of them and go for a wild ride inside the sheets.

"Apology accepted." Ash smiled.

They kissed again and it almost happened.

"May," Ash protested, "May, we can't."

"Why not?" She was breathing heavily from all the kissing and their make-out session. "I want to…for real this time."

"Sex is not something to be taken lightly," Ash reminded her, "Same thing with virginity. Once you've lost it, there's no getting it back."

"But-"

"There's a time and a place for an adventure like that." He quipped, "Now is not that time."

May knew he was right, but make up sex would have sealed the bond between them forever. Still, she was touched by the fact that Ash was intending to preserve her virginity until the right time. From what Drew had told her when she gave back the ring was the complete opposite. His goal was to take it.

"You do know what a good adventure would be?"

"What's that?"

"Would you ever consider going skydiving?"

"Skydiving?" May felt a rush of adrenaline just from thinking about it, "How would I know what to do? I haven't even taken lessons."

"We'd do a joint jump. You'd be strapped to me."

"You've skydived before right?"

"I've done over a hundred and twenty drops. Some of them at night."

"Okay," She worriedly said, settling into his arms. Ash pulled back the blanket to his bed and she snuggled against him, "What if I change my mind."

"It's your decision May. If we're about to jump out and you change your mind, that's okay." He assured her, "Just remember that something like this isn't for everybody and if you don't do it, neither I nor anyone else will think any less of you."

"I'd do it!" She triumphantly declared, "As long as you're there."

"I'll always be there," Ash said. He pulled the covers over the both of them and began to settle into sleep.

"Ash?" May asked after a moment, "What are you doing tomorrow? I thought we could spend the day together."

"I've got a debriefing with the military and then I'm headed to Decker's for a barbeque for Thanksgiving."

"I want to come."

"I'd like that."

* * *

After Ash had completed his debriefing, he headed back home to pick May up and they reached Decker's neighborhood in the afternoon.

Brendan lived on the south side of Petalburg in a city called Blinzer, a place where a lot of military families lived due to the proximity to Wagner AFB. Many of Hoenn's personnel were lenient and full-time families took advantage of the benefits offered, living inside the base's perimeter.

Decker however had resided with his wife outside the base and when it came time to retire his service for the time being, finding new residency was no trouble at all.

May had grabbed some craft beer from her favorite store while Ash set to work on baking a triple chocolate brownie pie that his mother used to make. He knew better than to show up for a gathering without something to bring on his own, but he wasn't exactly the greatest cook and had only remembered to take the pie out when he passed right by and felt the heat from his oven.

The top was a little overdone, but it turned out to be better than expected.

"Haven't been home for three days now," Brendan said as the three of them walked up the small steps to his house, "It's going to be nice sleeping back in my own bed again."

He unlocked the screen door and opened it up, holding it as Ash and May followed.

The interior was rather spacious with a nice coffee table that opened up into a lounge with a computer on a desk in the center. On the right side was a large portrait of Brendan in his military uniform, a neatly arranged row of medals and multicolored ribbons. Beside him was a young woman who Ash had to guess was his wife and in between the two of them was…

"Is that your-"

"DADDY!" An excited squeal came from the lit kitchen behind the wall and a small girl bounded around, lunging for Brendan. She had shoulder length black hair and gray eyes, just like her father.

He caught her, chuckling at her approach and hoisted her close to him, "Hey there 'Ster! You being a good CO while I was gone?"

She suddenly went wide-eyed and used her free hand to give a salute. Both Brendan and Ash couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yessir. Sowwy. Excited you were coming."

"It's okay sweetie. C'mere, give daddy a kiss," With that his daughter's tiny lips pecked the side of his cheek, "Oh, this is Ash and May, friends of mine." He introduced, "Ash, May, this is my daughter. Aster."

"It's nice to meet you Aster." Ash smiled, only for her to bury her face into her father's neck.

"Not used to meeting new people I take it?"

"She'll warm up to you. It takes a while," Decker grinned, "When I mean a while, it's usually ten minutes." He gestured to the back of his house, "C'mon, let's drop off the stuff in the kitchen and head out to the patio."

As they walked out into the kitchen, they noticed a woman standing in front of the fridge that was identical to the one in the portrait.

She had short black hair with an hourglass figure and eyes that seemed almost red in color.

Overall she was very beautiful and some of her complexions could be seen in Aster too.

"Hey honey," She greeted, "I brought the grill out and your flamethrower."

"Excellent," Brendan moved over and they kissed with Aster trying to join in, "Welcome home."

"Thanks," He looked over at Ash and May, "This is Ash Ketchum, my boss and May, his girlfriend. Guys, this is Zinnia. My wife."

"It's a pleasure," Ash stepped forward, but found himself surprised when she embraced him into a friendly hug.

"So nice to finally meet you Ash," Zinnia said, "My husband talks highly of you all the time."

"Now that we're all here, why don't I get dinner started?"

"What about the rest of the team?"

"Damien and Jewell are doing their own thing and I haven't heard from Zack, just that he wasn't able to make it."

"Okay."

* * *

Ash accepted the bottle of beer from Brendan as the two relaxed behind a stainless steel grill. Steaks sizzled over the fire with the smell of a combination of meat and gasoline with his "special" whiskey marinade and occasionally, he was checking them with a pair of tongs.

The backyard had a couple trees and just behind the black fence was another backyard with a similar look. They were also close enough to the coast to hear the waves rhythmically washing up on the side.

"You have a very nice place," Ash said. He wasn't lying. Brendan's house must have cost just below half a million.

"Thanks. Took a lot of time to earn it. Thankfully Zinnia's job as a curator for Petalburg's museum with Hoenn's ancient history paying her well and we paid it off in less than three years."

"A curator? If she's one of those, you know you can afford more right?"

"Yeah," He flipped a steak, "But to be honest; this is a nice neighborhood. That's why I like your house, it reminds me of here. Plus it's close to the base."

"So you're going through financial troubles?"

"No, we're actually quite stable."

"Then what is it?"

Decker took a deep breath, "Zinnia is a Draconid."

"A Draconid?" Ash asked aloud, "You mean those mythical people who worshiped ancient dragons?"

"They're not mythical, in fact, they're quite real. Although their numbers have been dwindling."

"What does her being a Draconid have anything to do with you living here?"

"If you did your homework, you'd know that Draconids are strong believers in fate and destiny."

Ash nodded.

"When Zinnia was raised by her parents, her destiny was prophesied that she would search extensively for a mate who was brave and selfless and together, they would live in harmony with four offspring."

Now that made sense. "So it's not the fact that you two can't afford another place, it's that you're saving up for more kids." Decker gestured for the plate, "How long have you two been married?"

"Four years, when I was twenty."

"Wow, that's young."

"Twenty's legal," He set two of the steaks onto the plate. "Had Aster the next year."

"Well what's stopping you from having the other three?"

* * *

Meanwhile, May found herself being tugged by little Aster into her bedroom. The girl was a complete bundle of joy, having already warmed up to her minutes after being introduced. She was already talking about how much fun she was going to have with "Unca Ash and Ant Mei"

"Aster you have a really nice room!" She exclaimed, trying to find a place to sit, but the only place was a yellow bean bag occupied by the room's owner herself. May had to settle for the bed.

"Look Ant Mei!" Aster bounded back with a giant stuffed Salamence, "This is Sal! He's a Salmonce!"

"Wow!" May took it and gave it a once over. The Salamence doll looked a bit worn, but it was certainly a well loved object. "What does Sal do?"

"He watches over and protects me and the whole wide world. Just like Astah!"

"You have a plushie named after yourself?"

"Yeah! She's a Whismah though, but together they stop disasters and bring peace to Hoenn!"

"And she loves to play Sal and Aster as superhero duos," Zinnia's voice came from the doorway, "Together they fight the bad guys and prevent disasters from coming to the world."

"Dats right!" Aster bounded over and hugged her mother, "I love you mama!"

Zinnia couldn't help but laugh, "I love you too sweetie. Go see if your dad needs some help."

When the little legs scampered off, May got up off the bed. "She is absolutely adorable!"

"Aster can be a handful, but you're right. She's a sweetheart and I couldn't imagine life without her or Brendan."

"Mrs. Decker,"

"Oh please call me Zinnia."

"Right," May cleared her throat, "Zinnia, thanks for inviting us over."

"Of course. I think Brendan wanted to introduce you two to us and for me to get to know his boss better." She sighed, "You never know when you might be getting a letter from him with condolences."

May nodded. Ash seemed like the guy who people just couldn't defeat, but realistically, he was more vulnerable than any of them. "You seem happy."

"Couldn't have asked for a better husband," Zinnia led the way outside Aster's room, "Although things do get tense."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but that's what happens when you have a husband who shoots things for a living,"

May knew that Ash wasn't perfect, but he was for her. If things were to be worked out and if he could forgive her for her actions, she wasn't sure if everything could go back to normal and even the normal might not be the same.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Brendan comes in and although he's not suffering from PTSD, he feels like he has a lot of weight on his shoulders," They both came to the window and could see Ash and Brendan talking to one another with the latter stroking Aster's hair, "He's not the same person I married; instead being more distant."

Laughter from outside caught their attention and Zinnia smiled again, "Thankfully those times where he does that are quite rare and even then, it's been a while since I've seen him this happy. When he's happy, Aster's happy and that's all I care about."

"You two seem very happy." May agreed. Brendan's story sounded like something she and Ash harbored for one another, "Perhaps Brendan is doing that to protect both you and Aster from all the things he has to face."

"Possibly."

"I just hope me and Ash can have something similar to what you two have."

"Like four kids?"

May's eyes widened, "You have four kids?"

Zinnia laughed, "No. Well at least not yet."

"I guess that's good for child planning."

"Well it is my destiny. See I'm a Draconid and my fate was that I would find penance in life by marrying a brave selfless man and eventually having a family of four kids. Sadly, I don't know if that will happen."

"Why not?"

Before she could answer, Brendan opened the screen door, "Alright. Dinner's ready. Hope everyone's hungry!"

"I AMMM!" Aster squealed, "We gonna have dinnah with Unca Ash and Ant Mei for the first time evah!"

* * *

 **Lots of things covered here. Ash and May seem to have reconciled and we get to meet Brendan's family for the first time! I have to admit, it was fun writing the family introduction.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	33. Chapter 33

A knock on the door to the place startled all of its occupants.

Most of the time people in the low-income side of Petalburg City just barged in and did whatever they wanted.

Drew found the door opened and a barrel of a black finished pistol stuck out. Behind it was a rather burly man that passed as hired muscle.

"What do you want?" He coldly asked.

"I'm here to see Harley." Drew tried to mask his nervousness, something that wasn't easily concealable with a gun to his face.

"Who's Harley?"

"Relax," Another voice rang out from somewhere behind, "I know who he is."

The man tucked the gun back into his jacket and stood aside.

Harley was bigger than Drew expected, tall and lean, nearly six and a half feet and his malicious face could set even the most cynical players in shivers.

"What can I do for you?"

The voice dripped with raw malice and contempt making him wonder what kind of childhood had to be traumatic enough to turn a man who looked to be barely thirty into a twisted, evil human being. He was responsible for murders all across the country as his Syndicate firmly gripped Hoenn's growing underworld.

For once he actually felt a little appreciative for Ash and his team in their part of gradually kicking these dirtbags out.

But now here he was, ousted from his inheritance from taking the mantle of Maple Software because his fiancée began to fuck with some low life soldier! She owed him! Norman owed him! He had worked all these years to ascend to the throne and it was snatched away just when it was inches within his grasp. He knew that once he started down this darker and more treacherous path that it was a point of no return. Her fantasy of a perfect boyfriend was the beginning of the undoing and destruction of all he had worked for. The humiliation was almost embarrassing when people offered sympathetic looks to him, believing that he was the true loser.

This was why he was here in the first place, to exact his revenge and make sure that Norman and May were hurting.

At least the head of the company was still in rather good terms with Drew. Norman was left depressed and it continued when it was clear that May had no intentions of returning back home.

There was even a time where he was ready to embrace Ash in their relationship. Then Drew stepped in and reminded him that losing May was completely the Commando's doing and while it couldn't bring her back, it highlighted the problem front and center. This was enough to cast off the thought of reconciliation and focus on Ash again.

Drew saw it as the perfect opportunity to step right in and claim his rightful place as the inheritor of Maple Software. Norman was in talks to sell the company when he retired and the former deal he had signed with his "protégé" was no longer on the table.

He couldn't kill off Norman because that would instead relay control to May, his eldest child. She had the free will to name the successor and he knew he would be the first one fired. So now it was time to take the matter into his own hands and set up a path that would lead Drew right to the front office and to the top.

But he knew that once he crossed the threshold, there was no turning back.

He held out his arms as one of the thugs gave him a pat down. They seemed to take their security seriously despite his multiple claims that he had no weapon.

Harley led him through the seedy building and he tried his best not the make a face at the looks of it. The fact that an acrid smell seemed to permeate his body didn't help. He tried his best not to cough or take deep breaths.

"Why don't we sit at a table?" Drew requested. That way he would get the least amount of foreign things on his rather expensive suit. He was hoping to meet Harley somewhere else, but after receiving directions on the road, he had no idea it would be here of all places.

"Fair enough." He sat at the far side of a table next to a bar. The surface looked wooden, although someone had carved things into it and it was revealing rather thick layers of residue on its surface.

"So the greatest wedding of the year was called off." Harley studied him for a moment, "So I've heard. I imagine you are here because you want to do something about it?"

"I have some work that needs to get done and I feel that you and your group are the only ones that can do something like this."

"What's in it for me?"

"Name your price."

He raised an eyebrow, "I take it this is something you don't want to get your hands dirty with? Then let's go with something like five million with additional expenses if necessary."

Drew nodded, knowing that he was willing to dish out quadruple that and once he was the head of Maple Software, a five million payment would be like a church donation for him, "Done."

"That easy huh?" He mused before leaning forward, "I'm listening."

"Good," Drew smiled for the first time since meeting the man, "I have some interesting work that you and your men are experts at and it'll keep you guys on the street for a long long time."

* * *

Brendan brought the food inside as Zinnia and Aster began to set the table, the latter of the two humming a child's tune. Her mother hummed along as she put placemats and plates down before accepting the little girl's handfuls of forks. There were four adult sets and one bright orange smaller plate with a salad fork instead.

Dinner was served and everyone happily ate, keeping conversation cheerful. In the end, they all ate their fill and settled for Ash's brownie pie with some ice cream.

Night began to fall and soon enough in mid conversation, Aster had tried to get May and Ash's attention several times before she slowed movements and fell soundly asleep. Brendan stood up and quietly carried her to her room.

They both chuckled, "Aster's been doing good in breaking the habit of sucking her thumb." Zinnia claimed.

"She takes after her father," Brendan sheepishly grinned, "And somehow I think the other three are going to do the same?"

"Planning for four children?"

"Yup," Zinnia scooted closer to Brendan to hold his hand, "We're in this together, all three of us right now."

"Zinnia, it's been bugging me," May said, "But you told me you couldn't have four kids. Why's that?"

Both husband and wife looked at one another before he spoke up. "I'm partially infertile."

"What?"

"You heard right,"

"Why do I feel like I'm at a gynecologist session right now?" May asked.

"It's probably the beer," Ash answered, causing the four of them to laugh.

Decker turned serious, "She is not the problem…I am." He took a deep breath, "Six months after Zinnia and I got married, she was pregnant with Aster. I was deployed with the Navy to rescue a cargo ship stranded off the coast of LaRousse with armed insurgents aboard in a hijacking. It was a simple raid, kill or capture all the tangos and secure the cargo. However as we're boarding, the terrorists had been buying themselves time negotiating by loading the air filters with nerve gas. As soon as we were onboard, it was released and we had gotten our masks on in time, but it was too late to save anyone else."

He drank his beer, "So we fought our way up to the bridge, the last room that wasn't cleared and we get into a heated gunbattle with at least four targets. In the middle of that, I was struck by a chair."

"A chair?"

"One of the tangos tossed it to distract us and it hit me directly in the face. The impact took the mask right off and I was exposed to the gas for about ten seconds before someone else had put on my spare. I was rushed to the hospital and eventually made a full recovery, but the gas had done permanent damage already."

He took a deep breath, "The exposure partially sterilized me and instead of a full fertility rate, I have about a forty percent chance of conceiving successfully."

"I see."

"I told Zinnia that I might not be able to live up to what her destiny had entailed, but she has refused to leave me."

"Draconids mate for life," She leaned into her husband, "And he's still my husband. We'll have kids, or die trying."

"The thing that worries us both is the fact that my job is dangerous." Brendan added.

Zinnia nodded, "It's not easy being married to someone who uses guns for work every day, but we just have to get through it day by day," Absentmindedly, she looked over at Aster's room, "For her sake."

"It's getting late," Ash said, "May has class tomorrow and we," He looked over at Brendan, "Have work."

The four of them stood up as the host and his wife escorted them out the door.

"May," Zinnia breathed, "Here's my number, if you ever need anything…just call me or Brendan. If Ash can't help you…we can."

"Thanks," May said, feeling grateful that more of Ash's friends were warming up to her. In all, they seemed like a loosely put together family and they were close.

As they drove off, Brendan and Zinnia waved, waiting outside on the cool night until the car turned the corner to disappear from their sight.

"They're good for each other," She said. Looking up at him, she only saw him nod in agreement.

"He's very protective of her…kind of reminds you of us. Yes?"

"Very much. Still does." She chuckled and nuzzled close to him, "How about we go upstairs and get ready for bed."

"I'm fine with that," Brendan raised an eyebrow, "Why you have something in mind?"

"Let me show you." He was grabbed by the shirt and didn't resist as his wife pulled him back inside their house.

"May, are you sure you don't want to go back to your house?" Ash asked as they pulled into his driveway.

"No. I don't think my father is going to support me anymore."

"He still does. After all the only people he has left in his life are you and Max."

"But he hates you,"

"Some people are driven by hate despite all evidence," Ash explained, "And they can be hard to persuade otherwise, but May, he's still your father."

She nodded.

"So," He said brightening the subject, "Skydiving tomorrow?"

"I thought you said you have work?"

"I do," He smiled, "But one of the trainers in a HALO course called in sick and I'm replacing him."

"So we're going to jump out of an army plane?"

"Yes, is that alright?"

"What if I don't want to do it?"

"I'll stand with you May. Although I think you want to see this through. Am I right?"

"Yes," She confidently said, leaning into him for a kiss, "I'm here to follow you anywhere."

* * *

 **I've always wanted to go skydiving, so maybe that's what I'll do for my bachelor party...maybe.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing. You give my writing purpose.**


	34. Chapter 34

May felt Ash tug sharply at another strap in their harness as they sat in the enormous military cargo plane. Beside her on either side were other men dressed in paratrooper gear with the parachute packs and rifles across their laps. He was explaining parts of the jump to some of his men and she noticed they were listening over the engine roar with rapt attention.

"Listen up everyone! We're coming up on designated LZ Papa Bravo! Your guys mission is to rendezvous at the rally point where you'll make your exfil. Best times will be recorded, but your main objective is to make sure every one of you gets to the rendezvous point. We will be doing this exercise at night if this does not happen. Clear?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" The men shouted.

"Helmets on!" Ash bellowed, prompting the two dozen soldiers to don their face concealing visors.

"Coming up on the drop zone!" The pilot reported, "Ten seconds."

"Make ready! Good luck to all of you," Ash hit a button on the side of the bay, causing the entire aircraft to shake and the ramp to open. A roar filled the cabin as the soldiers made their way over to that end. Some of them stretched their arms and legs, others checked their gear.

"Go go go!" Ash waved as the men began to take their leaps. May watched in amazement, both at her boyfriend's leadership and the bravery of the men who fell from sight.

"What about us?" She yelled.

Ash turned to her, donning his own helmet and slipping a smaller sized one over her head. It sealed with an audible hiss and the inside warmed up, a welcome from the chilly temperature.

Looking up at him, he held up his right hand, making a circle with his thumb and index finger while the other three digits were erect.

"You good?" She heard his voice over the integrated radio in her helmet.

"Yeah," She said, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he reached beside her helmet.

"You good?" He repeated.

"Yeah," She was relieved to be talking to him again. "Little nervous."

"Breathe slowly. I know it might be hard, but just do it. You'll find that you'll be much more calmed down. Remember your things?"

"Arms out and tap you three times to open the parachute."

"Good," He leaned over, pressing his visor against hers, "What if that doesn't work?"

"Don't panic, you'll free the original chute and release the spare."

"Good," He tapped her helmet.

"What if I forget all of that?"

"You won't." Ash pulled her closer and began to strap the two of them together, "And even if you do forget, I'll be controlling our descent, so just enjoy the ride."

"Five seconds!" The pilot called over the radio. "Alright, light is green."

"You ready?" Ash asked as they walked over to the side.

May looked over the edge at the ground nearly fifteen thousand feet below. Her voice quavered, but she was determined to act brave in front of him, "Let's do this!"

At once, both Ash and May fell out of the plane. While the Lieutenant was used to the feeling, May was completely taken aback by the weightlessness. She would have never thought in her wildest dreams if someone asked her two months ago if she would be skydiving, but now here she was. The urge to scream at the uncontrolled descent was fighting at her, but she had to suppress it.

Looking up, she saw the plane accelerate away and the sound of its engines was replaced by a raw rush of air. The force it was exerting on her limbs made it feel like they were suspended, but she managed to snake them over and grab onto Ash's outstretched arms. It felt like being on a giant roller coaster, except this time, the drop was way longer.

While she was still getting the thrill of the plunge, what truly made it amazing was the man behind her. There was everything to love him about for giving her a wonderful adventure. At first, she was uncertain, but having him to help her through made it feel like it was just another thing ready to be conquered.

"Deploying the chute," Ash told her over the speakers after a while of freefalling. He tugged his pack and she suddenly felt as if a giant hand had shaken and abruptly halted their descent.

"Hands up," They were reaching about two thousand feet and she guided them over his. He gave her a brief lesson on how to steer and let her control their descent, steering and speed. All the time, May had a stupid grin on her face. Even before they were hitting the ground, she wanted to hop back into a plane and go again. Now it was much quieter and neither of them had to shout over the winds. People were already outside to see what was happening and they both waved and smiled, knowing that some in the group had their cameras out and taking plenty of snapshots of the couple on their way down.

The Military Base was just ahead and they moved in the fields right behind the hangars. Ash flexed his legs so that he would take the brunt of the impact and immediately, two of the Air Force personnel rushed out to meet them.

"Good landing Lieutenant." One of them said as he was unhooking the straps, "Miss Maple, did you enjoy the drop?"

"YES!" She practically screamed out, "Can we go again?!"

"Unfortunately not today," The man said, "That was the last scheduled drop of the day."

A loud squeal interrupted the conversation and May jumped into Dawn's waiting arms. There was a base guest badge around her neck.

"Oh my Arceus!" She smiled from ear to ear at Ash, "You two were amazing!"

Ash managed to pull her helmet off while doing the same to himself, "I just guided her, she did most of the descending."

After returning the equipment, signing out and making promises to do a second jump with the Navy Base, they exited the front gate and Dawn took her home.

"See you tomorrow?" May asked.

"Of course,"

Rather than reply, she walked right up and planted her lips on his.

Dawn honked the horn of her car to snap the two out of it.

"Right," She blushed, "I uh better get going."

"Sooo," Dawn began as they headed back to her house, "How was the drop?"

"Super fun! I can't wait until Ash takes me again!"

"Ash huh?" Dawn gave a suggestive smirk, "He pretty much solidified dreamy for any girl with a stunt like that!"

"Yeah," Her face fell. Since she would eventually have to head home, it would lead to the inevitable confrontation of her father and she didn't need a psychic to know he was going to be displeased with her actions at the party. "If only the Drew I used to know was like this," She lamented. A date with him was usually just a fancy five course dinner at one of those downtown restaurants with valets and formal dining. Sometimes it was fine, but she wanted to do something more.

"Well I think you're going to be fine. Your father is going to be more of a problem with Drew. He just," Dawn shook her head, "Kind of disappeared after the party. I haven't seen him since."

"To hell with whatever he thinks!" May fired back, "He can kick me out of the house, cut off financial support, or whatever! It's not changing my opinion of Ash! I love him and nothing will change that."

"Wow," Dawn amazingly said, "You really do get fired up about him! I was right! You do love him for certain!"

"I…" May couldn't find any words to say. Dawn had laid out the trap beautifully to make her confess her love for Ash and she had walked right into it. "You're smart."

"And don't you forget it," Her best friend stuck out her tongue. "May just do it already! Take off his clothes and jump in the bed together! What are you waiting for?"

That question did stick in her head though. What was she waiting for?

They pulled up in front of her house and she bounded out with Dawn, making their way across to the front door.

Norman had it opened up before she could even touch the handle.

"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded, not bothering with a greeting, "How can you just leave Drew like that and then disappear for days? What's the matter with you?"

"Hi dad," May tried her best to look as innocent as possible, "Good to see you too."

"May Maple! Stop right there and tell me where you have been this instant!"

She sighed and knew this was her chance to finally get him to understand this was a life she wanted to pursue. "I've been with Ash. He took me to his friend's place where we had dinner and went skydiving this morning!" She heard him gasp, but didn't particularly care. "It was super-fun don't you think?"

"He did what?" Norman looked like he was going to kill something.

"Skydiving," May repeated, "It was absolutely incredible!"

"MAY! He's going to get you killed with those stunts!"

"He's giving me a life I've always wanted and I love him because of it!"

Norman shook his head, "You know what, I'm disappointed in you May."

"Yeah?" May defiantly shot back, "Because I'm disappointed in you too dad. You think I'm too naïve to know that it was your agenda to marry me off to Drew, even though I told you I don't love him?!"

"Drew can give you a happy and safe life! You don't see it now, but Ash won't be able to do that!"

"Then at least let him come as a friend and welcomed here! You had to file a restraining order against him! After what he did to Max, helped him improve in school and sports and you don't even show him one ounce of gratitude! It's not purely because you believe Drew can give me a safe life, it's that you hate Ash's guts! I still choose him over Drew. Ash is ten times the man he will ever be."

The fact that she hit the nail right on the head surprised Norman. But that didn't change his mind one bit, "I'm sorry May," His tone had defused from enraged to cold and more calculating.

"Why can't you like him? He makes me happy and you said when I was younger; anyone who made me or Max happy would make you happy too."

"He is a danger to this family and is already tearing it apart!" He became more vicious, suddenly aware that he had never been so angry at either of his kids. "Listen to me May! You will break it off with him or Ash will be the one I hurt instead!"

May knew that anyone who openly attacked Ash, Drew included would definitely regret that. He had to mean something else.

Norman saw her confusion, "Just so you know," He explained, "I have connections everywhere in Hoenn, including the premier, who happens to sign those paychecks for your little freelancing daredevil. What do you think will happen when he has to make a choice? Losing my endorsement money, or terminating Ash's job? You know what, when he's relieved of command; the only enforcement post he'll be able to get is directing traffic downtown!"

"Why?" May's face brimmed with tears, "Why are you doing this dad?"

It truly pained him to see her like this, but in the long term, she would finally open her eyes and realize that he was right. "He will break your heart."

Really? That was his point?

"So I should break his instead?"

"Tell Dawn to leave." He ignored her question, "Right. Now."

"No,"

They both looked over to see her standing at the entrance, "Not without May."

"She's not coming with you." Norman declared, "Now go."

"Fine," Dawn looked over at May, "Why do you always let him win?"

"Dawn get out! You're not welcome here anymore!" He bellowed.

She huffed, "I wasn't even welcome to begin with."

"Just go Dawn." May was more worried that if her father could cut Ash's pay, what things would he do to her best friend's business.

Before either of them could respond, she shut the door and drove off in her car. May knelt to the floor with her head in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably.

Norman looked at his tearful daughter and moved to comfort her. "May. Listen to me-"

"Don't touch me dad." She snarled, getting up and storming upstairs, "If I find out you did anything to disrupt either Ash's or Dawn's life, by Arceus I will never EVER speak to you again!"

* * *

 **You're doing all of this to prove a point Norman? C'mon man! This is a little extreme, even for you...**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	35. Chapter 35

Ash frowned as May told him everything. How her father threatened to destroy his job, Dawn's life. While she tried her best to protect both, she wasn't sure if her own demand had much credibility to it.

"Listen, I still have class tomorrow, but I can come back home after it's over."

"You've only been gone for five hours and you already miss my place?" He smiled, knowing she knew he was doing so, "You're so sweet."

"I love your place so much more than mine. The feeling of family just oozes out the walls."

"Then I better clean the kitchen so it radiates it instead."

They both chuckled at that.

"Ash, please." May pleaded with him, "You don't have to do this."

"No," He said, "I wish I didn't. I feel like I'm going to make one last attempt to convince him otherwise."

"Just let me be with you."

"That will aggravate him further. I have to do this alone." At first he didn't want to come between May and her father, but his feelings towards her were growing with every second that passed. Now it seemed that Norman was the only obstacle in the way of that. "I'm going to give it my best shot." Because even If it turned sour, he wouldn't look regrettably on it.

"Okay."

"I'll be there when you're in class. Have a good day." He said, "I love you."

May choked a sob on the other end, "I love you too Ash."

* * *

Ash hit his entry code into the gate and pulled into the house. He opened the door after threatening Norman that he might have a severed tie with May if he wasn't allowed to speak with him personally.

"What?" Norman's first question was crisp, blatant and already full of mistrust. Ash had waited in the living room for ten minutes since and knew that he had taken that time to put on a rather expensive business suit. Just another way for him to throw his superiority over. He felt like it was the first time waiting for a girl to get ready for the prom.

"I'm here to talk to you about May."

"May's in class right now," Norman said, "She's unavailable at this time."

"I'm aware of that," Ash knew that he was trying to play a game and his mental moves were very good.

But the Commando had some cards of his own. "I deliberately came because I think we can work something out."

"Well then you are sorely mistaken," An arm was waved in dismissal, "Now leave my house."

"May is going to move in with me." He declared.

That provoked a response and as he was turning away, Norman paused before glaring at Ash. He walked over to his desk drawer and pulled out an all too familiar shape.

The silver gleamed in the sunlight as he leveled the snub nosed revolver straight at Ash. Uneasiness crept up his spine and he had no idea if Norman was capable of murder, but seeing his attitude and from May's recalling of it, the feat seemed more plausible.

"You see this? I purchased it in defense of my family from intruders. Now May might consider you family, but I don't and now it's for you. Don't think I will shoot you if you try to take May from me."

Ash immediately pointed out several flaws in his latest intimidation tactic. First of all, he was aiming with an unloaded gun and second, his elbow was locked in place. Sure, he could be struck by a bullet but it was aimed in an amateurish way that the recoil would toss it straight out of his hands, even if it was a smaller caliber.

"Now tell me," Norman slipped his gun back inside his drawer, "What is it you really want? Tell me so I can save myself all this grief."

"I want to know," Ash was still having his head spin over the fact that Norman had a firearm and wasn't hesitating to "shoot" a Commando. "What has you so afraid of me with May?"

"You are a danger to her,"

"There is no reason for me to hurt her intentionally."

Norman rolled his eyes, "Intentionally. What about accidentally? Have you really thought about what will happen in the future? I raised May to be carefree and innocent, so she did not have the hardships of fending for herself. I have money, connections and assets to help me through it. What about you? What can you offer her? You certainly don't have the money I have. She is taking classes to earn a degree and become a model. What kind of charade is that? What will you think if you have a wife or daughter that becomes a fashion icon with men leering at her like you do with May? I guess you will never know since you don't have any kids." His face brightened as he readied another verbal attack, "Yes, kids too. May is not ready to be a mother yet. Are you ready to be a father if you two decide to have children?"

Ash made to reply, but her father just went on, "And your job. It's one of the most dangerous in the world. What will happen if May isn't physically injured but emotionally? What if you get killed in combat? You'll be leaving her a widow, heartbroken and if you have kids, they'll be fatherless. How are you going to plan for that?"

With it all laid out for him made it all too real how difficult it really was going to be. As much as he didn't want to admit; Norman was partially right. He was not prepared for a relationship like this. He loved her with all his heart, but he now wasn't sure if that was going to be enough anymore. Could he be putting her into a problematic scenario that was unwarranted? Did she really deserve all of this?

The hate and tension was so thick in the air, one could slice it with a knife. Ash had to try his best, reminding himself that he was able to win no matter the odds. He had to prove he was worthy, for May's sake.

"No." He finally said after a period of silence, "Perhaps I can't give her those things, but if she married Drew, you could have given her all of that." Pointing to himself, he was getting fired up, fighting for something…someone he was truly passionate about, "What about me? Why can't we have those same things? What in the world did I do that has you so pissed off with me? All I did was just fall in love over May. Neither of us planned it out and I didn't come here to Hoenn intending to steal her away from you. It just happened."

"All I can say to that," Norman spat, "Is that you two better undo it before the separation becomes unbearable."

Ash knew this argument was going nowhere and whatever he would say wasn't going to change his mind.

"I tried that. We tried that, but it's only doing the opposite. I need May in my life and she told me she feels the same way." He looked down at his arms, with the black bolt tattoos just visible at the bottom of the sleeves, "What is it about me that I need to change in getting you to approve? The tattoos? I'll get them removed! The job? I'll find work somewhere else! My house? Clothes? I just wish I knew and that you would trust your own daughter to make her own decisions."

Norman walked on over so that the two men were now just inches apart. For a second, Ash actually thought he would change his mind and maybe at least give the two of them a fighting chance.

Then the gaze turned poisonous. He was known to intimidate others in business conduct and when angered, he proved to be someone not to trifle with.

"Don't you ever tell me what I should and shouldn't do concerning my children," He growled through clenched teeth, "There is no way in hell I will ever approve of the relationship between you two. As far as I'm concerned, May is going to choose you and your dangerous lifestyle as one." The dismissive wave came again, "I have nothing else to say to you. Get the hell off my property and never come back!"

Ash felt as if this was all he could have done. Whatever he tried to sway the old man's mind, it came back to the stubbornness he was known for. Gazing right into his eyes, Norman suddenly began to feel uneasy himself. He thought Ash was a fairly easygoing person based on his previous interactions and used his softer attitude to his advantage, but now he realized that Ash could get just as intimidating as him and someone that one should definitely not piss off.

He was not used to having someone else stand up to him and he hated the feeling already.

"I'm going to tell you something," Ash's voice came out like a snarling furious Aggron. The hate from the voice was enough to send uncontrollable chills down his back, "I came here, even when May protested and begged me not to, because for a time, I believed that we could get together and settle this matter like men. Now it seems that whatever I say or do, you're still going to look at me worthlessly and not good enough to whatever."

Norman backed away, almost afraid and he looked pleading for Ash to stop, but he wasn't done. Not by a long shot.

"It still puzzles me on your view of my military service. I have no idea what my time in the Navy reflects on your opinion of me, but I have faithfully served my own country for five years!" His voice was slowly rising to a yell and his hands were balling into fists, "I even left it, with my mother, who was my last family member and dying from a fatal disease to come and help rid your own country of assholes! This country you say; has been receiving hefty amounts of your endorsements to its head of state! And still! Still, you think that you and that pretty boy Drew are still ten times more superior than I will ever be?!"

He laughed, almost evilly but it was more realizing how twisted Norman's mind really was. When it stopped, he was on the receiving end of a furious glare. At this point, he didn't give a shit anymore.

"Go fuck yourself." Ash put as much contempt and venom as possible into that statement. Had his last tone been literal, it was enough to kill a Drapion.

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and left the house.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful. The JETS worked with the Navy to catch a group of criminals trying to breach security for the highest bidder. It was a confrontation by the docks, but after a tense standoff, Ash and his team managed to kill or capture all eight perpetrators. He wished they could all have had Norman's face through his HUD.

With the last of the tedious paperwork being complete, everyone bade one another goodnight and went on their separate ways.

Ash grabbed a quick bite at a food truck and headed home, strangely in a very good mood to see May.

He arrived home to see her watching the sunset on the beach. She sat on her side, almost in a model pose just beyond the reach of the cold water.

"Hey," He took off his shoes and socks before sitting down next to her. "How was class today?"

"Good," She absentmindedly said, "Hopefully we can begin to study for the final exams tomorrow."

"Good," Ash said, "May Maple I want to ask you something. It's been in my thoughts for the longest time but, would you marry me?"

The question just came all of a sudden and May felt a ring being pressed into her hand.

Without another word, she grabbed his face and kissed him as hard as she possibly could. His tongue came across into her mouth he felt desperate to explore even more. The ecstasy feeling almost caused her to drop the priceless ring on the beach.

Effortlessly lifting her from the sand, he carried her inside and up to his bedroom.

May was determined to heed Dawn's advice for the first time in an intimate manner.

"Ask me that again when we are done."

Ash laid her onto the bed and slipped his fingers into her undergarments. He frowned when she gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," She breathed, "Just not quite used to the fact that you asked me the million dollar question or the fact that we're going to do it right here and now."

"You wanted this right?"

"Dawn and I are at odds about it, but you know what? To hell with it!"

"Well we can pretend like it until you find the answer?"

"Okay. Starting tonight?"

As May was done shedding her clothes underneath him, the Commando found himself looking at probably the most gorgeous sculpted body that was perfectly curved before his eyes. He found his own lust and desires beginning to control him.

"Starting tonight." He huskily said.

* * *

 **I'm gonna pass a bag around so everyone can donate their unused Burn Heals to Norman. Your contributions are appreciated after what Ash did to him and it's for a good cause :D Things are starting to heat up and this chapter had a lot of editing and adjustments to it. Hope it came out alright.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	36. Chapter 36

Ash let out a groan as he stirred awake. He reached down to rub his face and his arms stopped moving.

Last night, both of them had surrendered to one another and made passionate love right on top of his bed. It wasn't something he expected, but she was adamant on her decision and he just went with what both of them wanted and needed. It was rare that he experienced one of the best nights of his life and May was just as good in bed as she seemed to be. An hour after intense mating, the two of them drifted back to sleep with him draping an arm over her bare stomach.

She reluctantly left his side in order to go to class the next morning. May was very thankful she had brought many of her other clothes to put in Ash's house as well as driving on over, which indirectly saved her from that dreaded walk of shame.

For a moment, he thought that his arms had fallen asleep from all the action overnight. That annoying tingly sensation that caused him to lose all feeling in the limb, but then his head looked up and his eyes widened.

On both wrists were metal rings snapped firmly around, connected to chains that allowed maybe a foot radius of free movement. The chains linked to another pair of rings fitted around the posts of his bed. His legs were free, although that wasn't much of an asset.

He felt a presence and looked across the bedroom. Someone was sitting in the chair.

It was too early in the morning to discern anything; the person's features were hidden by shadows.

"Who the hell are you?" Ash hoarsely asked, suddenly aware that his throat was quite dry and he realized that he was still naked underneath the sheets.

The figure didn't respond, only stood up and slowly walked to Ash's bedside. He identified the body shape as a male, well built, but not overly muscular and his hair was longer and it was a few inches shy of going shoulder length.

He held up a palm sized phone and began to set up a tall camera tripod. Once it had been complete, he set the phone on top and angled it down to his lying frame.

"Wave to the camera action star." He said monotonously.

"What do you want from me?"

"Me?" The figure pointed at himself and chuckled, "I want nothing from you. You've got a nice house, good job and your girlfriend is quite sexy. I don't want to interfere with that."

"Well you could've ringed the doorbell. I would've answered." Ash smartly replied.

"Knowing you, it would have been done with a P two twenty six and a suppressor in the pocket of your bathrobe."

Ash looked at him in bewilderment as the figure held up his gun and casually released the magazine. He racked the slide, removing the bullet in the chamber.

"Like I said, I know who you are and wouldn't put myself at this close proximity to you without at least a guarantee of my own safety."

"Not giving up any information."

"Oh you're not giving up anything…Well anything yet." The man walked into the light and Ash recognized him.

One of Harley's lieutenants. The one that got away during their raid on Fallarbor.

He took the phone off the stand and turned it around so that Ash could see the person on the other side.

Staring back at him was the scared face of May.

* * *

They came for her.

She was completely unaware of the turn of events about to happen.

Dawn had excitedly squealed in delight when May spilled the fact of their lovemaking. However she was not inclined to share any details, much to her dismay.

"I can't believe you got engaged and laid on the same night!" She was extremely giddy and had to keep her voice down to avoid another embarrassment for the latter. "May this is the best thing that has ever happened to you!"

"I know," The subject was brought up because Dawn was asking on why May kept smiling and "glowing"

"I do not glow!" She retorted.

"It's written all over you!" Dawn egged on, "What did you and Ash do last night?" The mischievous grin began to grow on her face.

May was just leaving on Broadstone's campus in her class room when someone had bumped into her. She was carrying her backpack and the student easily reached for her pockets and pulled her cell phone free.

"Hey!" May was well aware of keeping all belongings while on college grounds and immediately sensed it. The thief took off, barging right through one of the stairwells.

Taking off after him, she quickly descended downstairs just as he threw open the door and took off across the courtyard.

She wished Ash was here. He'd chase that guy across the city and from someone used to playing quarterback; he tackled like a ferocious defensive end. She'd seen it in person.

The open lawn had a few statues and waterfalls with benches lining the sides. Students were laying in the grass together, moving about from class to class and a trio were throwing a frisbee around. No sign of the thief. Some other students around cast her awkward looks.

"Hey," A voice said from behind her.

May turned and saw a short boy with wire rimmed glasses. He had her cell phone in hand.

"What are you doing with my phone?"

"I…I didn't take it I swear!" He timidly said, "Some guy told me to give it back to you a minute ago!"

He extended it out and she took it.

"I uh…gotta get to class. Um," He adjusted his optics, "See ya!"

May watched, confused as he ran off. Not ten seconds later, her phone rang. She didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Sorry about swiping your phone earlier." An eerie voice said on the other end, "Only way I could get your number."

"Who are you?"

"That's none of your business. But if it pleases you to know, look up at the Williams Hall, flight of staircases in the middle."

May's eyes darted up and she immediately spotted the hooded man. He was standing still among the throng of students moving up or down levels. It was the same guy who had stolen her phone.

"Security's going to see that," May warned.

"Maybe, but by the time they do, I'll be in my band uniform heading to practice. I have something that you would be very interested in."

"What?" May irritably snapped. At the same time fear began to creep up her spine.

"Someone will meet you in one hour in the north parking garage on the third level. Be there. Otherwise, you're going to regret it."

Then the line clicked dead.

* * *

"Mister Ash Ketchum." The man in a black suit paced back and forth while he stared down, watching amused as Ash continued to fruitlessly break away from his bonds, "Your reputation precedes you."

"I don't believe we've met."

"I don't think we have either," His dark purple hair was long, over his shoulders and he had piercing eyes that seemed to be completely ice, free of emotion, but at the same time boring into him. It was almost as if his exterior was nothing but an illusion and he saw Ash for who he truly was. "You've been after me for some time. The name's Harley. I lead the Cacturne Syndicate in our friendly line of work."

"I wouldn't call it friendly."

"Neither would I, ever since you came here, you've been indirectly assigned to hunt me down. Now if you'll excuse me, I must meet your girlfriend for a chat."

As Harley left the room, his lieutenant stood up, "Why you?"

"Me?"

He picked up a folder. Opening it up and leafing through the contents, "Let's see here. Ash S. Ketchum, Lieutenant, six years of military service, five of them as a Commando in the Kanto-Johto Federation. Your past says you enlisted in Pallet and if my memory serves me correctly," He sat at the edge of his bed, "That's a pretty horrible place to grow up."

"I didn't have much of a choice. Pressure to join street gangs over there is intense and once you do, they never truly let you go."

"I love them," His lieutenant chuckled, "Many of them are junkies there anyway and they make good business. No police, so less likely to be caught." He went through the files again, "Served in Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos. Demonstrated heroism in the battle of the Oblivia Archipelago by hijacking and taking control of an enemy Thunderbolt-class antiaircraft tank and destroying sixteen aircraft belonging to the Pincer mercenaries. You know those guys were good friends of mine and I don't take kindly to people who hurt friends."

"Neither do I." He was more concerned about how the fact that the head of a huge crime syndicate had gotten his hands on his entire file. That meant that the entire military database of the Federation could be compromised.

"You haven't told me what you want done with May."

"May got away from Harley last time thanks to you," His captor leaned close, "She's not going to be able to get away this time."

"What the hell are you going to do about it?"

The phone was up again and Ash's mouth fell open at what he saw. His gaze shifted over. The man held a pistol and fired a single shot. Ash let out a sharp cry of pain as the bullet easily bypassed the fabric of the bed covers and ripped its way right through his body. His arms tightened, causing the chains to groan in protest. Blood began to seep out of the wound in his stomach and drip down his side. It felt like a red hot razor had been stabbed into him.

Now his shooter was visibly nervous. He had been told not to underestimate Ash at all and even if the guy looked cornered, he was still quite dangerous.

"What the hell?" Ash demanded, breathing heavily through clenched teeth and trying to erase the unignorably intense pain throbbing in his body, "I'm gonna kill you now!"

* * *

May cautiously walked on the third floor of the north parking garage. Nobody was in sight and yet she felt as if this was a place where nobody was watching. Her inner instinct was to get away, but something told her that a subject of importance was at stake.

In front of her were three black cars and the doors to two of them opened up to reveal three men. The first two were in long sleeved fatigues. They carried no visible weapons, but she was fairly sure they were armed. Not the friendliest duo and any other college student would think twice about approaching this shady group.

Both men walked forward and their large frames made her feel definitely scared.

"There is no need to frisk." She saw Harley's purple hair come from the other side of the car. "We don't want her to get any more terrified of us."

"Harley." May spat with disgust, "What are you doing here?"

"We're here on a little date are we not?" He spread his arms out, "You know, I'll just apologize now and say that it was wrong to abduct you and your friend in the first place."

"What am I doing here?"

"Well since you did leave quite a lasting impression on me and gave me complete grief thanks to your boyfriend," Harley opened a laptop, "My operations have been stalled and my business has suffered. So I figured I'd return the favor to you!"

May gasped. On split sections of the laptop were feeds of Ash and Caroline…her mother, both restrained in their beds by chains and bleeding from a single gunshot wound in their stomachs.

"What have you done?!" May shouted in anger, lunging at Harley. One of his men grabbed her and shoved her back, throwing a punch that connected with May's jaw.

She dropped to the ground and rolled on her feet, not very confident that despite all of Ash's training, she wouldn't be able to overcome three attackers. Her own jaw began to bleed through a cut in her mouth.

"I know it's a shock," Harley emotionlessly replied, "But you're going to hurt just as much as your boyfriend hurt my business. It's a damn shame, really. You two do make a very cute couple."

"What do you want from me?" May asked.

"A choice. You can use your car and head to either Ash's house or your mother's apartment. Turn yourself into my men there and they will free whomever you choose to rescue. Do it wisely though, by the time you rescue one of them, the other will have bled out."

"Why?" May began to feel anger and fear that she would lose one person close to her, "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Like I said before, you and your boyfriend destroyed my life. Now I am destroying yours."

She readied another outburst, but Harley held up his hand, "I would not waste time if I were you. Every moment you are here brings both your boyfriend and your mother one second closer to death."

May moved away towards her car.

"Oh and by the way," Harley called out after her, "I had your phone tapped. So if you try to call Ash's team or any police about me to rescuing whom you don't choose, I'll have them both killed."

Could she turn herself in to the Syndicate? Offer her life in exchange for her mother's or Ash's?

He made it very clear that he was not going to save one of them and if she tried, they'd both be dead.

Neither Ash or Caroline were more important, but at the same time, it would be heartbreaking to lose one of them

* * *

.

May's eyes clouded with tears as she raced her car out of the parking garage, her mind flying at a million miles an hour.

"No," She moaned as the car turned onto the highway and she stepped on the accelerator. The needle crept up and before she realized it, a police siren went off.

A sleek silver car broke out of the formation of others on the highway and tailed her in hot pursuit. Its lights flashed and the other cars in front of it parted to give it room for chasing.

"No please," May didn't want to get pulled over for speeding but it could get worse and time was not on her side. Her mother was dying, couldn't this be settled in a different time?

She took the next exit with the cruiser following behind, suddenly noticing that the vehicle looked awfully familiar.

* * *

 **More epic drama and a race to save Ash or Caroline. Who will May choose?**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	37. Chapter 37

On the side of the highway, Damien and Jewell were in their designated Manectric cruiser, watching the traffic go by.

"Will you cut that out?" She snapped as Hammond rather loudly slurped his milkshake, "You are sometimes extremely infuriating with little things like that!"

"Let me drink my double chocolate delight in peace." Damien grunted, "And I say nothing about your heavy breathing whenever you sit in the passenger seat since you can't stand looking at other drivers." He rolled his eyes, "Can't believe we're back to checking traffic today. I thought the Lieutenant would've briefed us on a case by now."

"Maybe there's no case to take,"

"I call bullshit on that."

The steady flow of traffic was suddenly interrupted by a white car that zipped past all the others.

"Holy-!" Jewell exclaimed, "Wow, does he care about his own safety?"

"No idea," Damien started the engine and pulled the car back onto the freeway, "He's slowing down, that's for sure."

"Good for us,"

"Let's just hope his running skills aren't as fast as his driving." He flipped on the sirens and lights before accelerating in chase. The cars in front began to part, giving him a straight shot at the speeder.

His eyes widened in surprise when the speeding car took an exit. "Wow," He let out a low whistle, "Never seen that before." He parked the cruiser behind as the car pulled off to the side of the offramp and strode up, keeping a hand close to his weapon.

"You do know there is a speed limit on the highway?" Damien said but his next outburst was cut short when he recognized the driver. "May?"

"Damien!" She exploded out of the car, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"May," He was puzzled, "What's going on?"

"I'm so sorry about speeding but my mother is dying!"

"Why what's wrong?" Jewell came to their side.

"Harley shot her and Ash at their houses and I only have time to save one! Please! Just help me!" Her tears threatened to spill over.

Damien peeled her off him and placed his hands on her shoulders, still trying to figure out what she was in complete hysteria about, "It's alright. Calm down. What did they tell you to save them?"

"I had to turn myself in to them."

"And you never wondered what they would do to you? They might kill you or do something even worse that makes death sound comforting."

"I didn't know what to do!" May sobbed into his arms, "They threatened to kill them if I called you or the police! Everything was just happening so fast!"

"May, where does your mother live?" Jewell asked.

* * *

A desperate May led them to Caroline's apartment and Damien used the siren and lights to sideline everyone in his path as they cut the normal hour long drive into twenty five minutes. They called an ambulance in Littleroot and it was set to be on site just after their arrival.

Damien and Jewell quickly made up an attack plan as they entered the apartment complex where Caroline lived. They dressed themselves in civilian clothes and he strode up the stairs to the front door.

"Is there a balcony in her apartment?" Jewell asked gathering her sidearm from their cruiser.

"Yes," May said, "It's the neighbor's next door."

"Okay. Stay here, we'll get her out." She said before exiting. Coming up next to her partner, she quietly knocked on the next door. The neighbor opened and Jewell flashed her badge and put a finger to her lips.

"I need to use the back door."

"In position," She reported to Damien in about ten seconds.

"Hey Caroline!" He rapped his knuckles on the door, "I got some of your mail in my box!"

Nobody came to the door so he knocked again, "Caroline these look important. I see an electricity bill here. They got your name on them and it looks like you haven't answered them in a while! You sure you put the right number down?"

The door unlocked and an older woman opened the door. She had light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes and a face complexion that was extremely similar to May's. Her face was filled with a fearful expression and she was doubled over. She didn't recognize him. His keen observation skills immediately noticed she had a hand on her stomach and blood was beginning to seep through the fingers.

"Caroline," Damien looked over in concern, "Are you okay?" The fact that she opened the door was a way to pretend that everything was as it should be. However he wanted to bet that right around the corner was one of Harley's goons pointing a gun at the back of her head to force cooperate.

"Yeah," She strained out, "Just a really bad stomachache. No need for a doctor, I have some medicine here."

"Well okay then," Damien held out a handful of envelopes, "I'll just leave these with you then."

Caroline's eyes widened and she had to stop a gasp of surprise. On the top envelope, the special forces operative had written in pencil, "JETS. How many are holding you hostage?"

"Okay um, thanks." She smiled at them before grimacing at her concealed gunshot wound, "It's just these three."

"Alright." Damien had turned up the sensitivity on the mic to relay that information to Jewell, "So uh…Walter down the street wanted to me to ask if you were free for coffee," Damien saw the puzzled look on her face before he lashed out, grabbing her body and pulling her behind him.

Just as she disappeared from the sight behind the corner the man covering her had fired, a loud crack from a shotgun.

"Stay here," Damien commanded, leaping to his feet and rounding the corner.

The sound of Jewell's pistol tapped in the other room and he heard a dying cry of one of the suspects. Keeping his aim forward, he swept the kitchen and living room.

One of the other men had retreated from Jewell's position and spotted him.

Quickly drawing his arm to adjust aim, he double tapped him through the chest and moved on without skipping a beat.

The third suspect suddenly burst into view from the bedroom and made a beeline for the front exit.

Jewell was right behind him and she flung a wire from her wrist that quickly caught up. It entangled itself to his legs and his flashy escape was cut short. He tripped over it onto the ground, screaming as his body hit at a rather painful angle.

"Clear," She said.

"All clear."

* * *

The paramedics arrived and May was horrified to see her mother like this. Caroline was normally a carefree person and cheerful to everyone, but seeing her in the gurney made everything feel so dull.

May was still in shock of how close her mother had been with death.

Her heart sank. Even though she saved her mother, Ash was now dead or bleeding out.

And there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

* * *

Ash pulled at his restraints, but the posts held together as if they were made from steel. He was beginning to sweat and his muscles felt tired. Blood from his stomach had flowed onto the blankets he layered over himself to try and stop it and the red stains were beginning to grow in size.

He had to think of something. Quickly.

Putting his back against the headboard, he placed his arms as far in front as possible and pulled his arms down. The chains groaned in protest and he used his legs, as well as every bit of his fading strength to break free of his confines.

With a loud snap, the post on his right side suddenly broke in half. Ash wasted no time in pulling off the entire post keeping his left side restrained.

The door opened and Harley's lieutenant burst in holding a pistol.

Ash swung his arm, using the chains and wooden pole as a makeshift flail. His initial strike was less than what he expected and it took a lot of effort to swing it a second time.

However it did the trick. The jagged bottom edge struck the man in the stomach, splintering at the end on impact. Harley's man screamed in pain and fell down thrashing.

He raised his arms in horror before bringing his "flails" down on his head. Blood spurted out and the body jerked once before laying still.

By now, his body was beginning to feel the loss of blood in his system and he drunkenly stumbled out of the bedroom. Despite his weary state, Ash kept a vigilant eye out for any more of Harley's men as he made his way to the kitchen.

Opening the medicine cabinet, his eyes scanned the contents before finding exactly what he was looking for.

Placing a saucepan and turning the burner on to high heat, he squeezed Vespiquen honey inside and gently stirred it.

After a few minutes, he lifted his shirt and held a spoonful above his gunshot wound. Thankfully the bullet had gone clean through and the pain, combined with blood loss was enough to make him breathe heavily and break out in a sweat.

Ash winced and hissed in pain as he spread the homemade remedy over his wound. The sensation stung, but it was enough to stop the bleeding.

He took his knife and ripped up his tanktop into long strips, wrapping it around his body and tying the ends together in a tight knot. When he was done, a few tugs were made to ensure that it wouldn't unwrap whenever he moved.

Ash placed the dead man's pistol in his holster and pilfered the rest of his pockets. There was an extra clip of ammo plus the one already loaded.

Slipping on a change of clothes, he grabbed the keys and pulled his car out of the driveway.

This was all Harley's elaborate plan of revenge and here was May, paying for what he did. However what particularly stung more than that was Norman's lecture to him the other day.

The words about his lifestyle putting her in danger was coming true. He had warned him about this very thing.

Ash felt tears form in his eyes. For once, he thought that maybe, just maybe there would be a chance that he could prove him wrong. Even if he could save May, what good would it be in his eyes? Norman would use this event as a prime example as to how she would be put endangered because of him. It wasn't his first time with a lady.

And it wasn't going to be the last either.

* * *

 **It sure is not.**

 **Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	38. Chapter 38

Harley had never seen his newest client in such a towering rage before.

There were no news highlights about May's hostage or reports on the police radios and yet none of his men were answering his phone.

Drew was never involved in such dirty work and felt that his own contributions would be clear evidence to put him behind bars. That was why he came to the Syndicate, as their hands were already stained from blood.

Harley ordered killings before, personally being there to execute them at times but now he had taken the feud as personal. It could have been because she escaped his clutches and he wanted revenge however.

He wanted to toy with her as much as he could before she died.

Now the man who ordered the hit was ranting off to him like a child that was denied his favorite game.

"You're a fucking idiot!" Drew screamed into the phone, "You were supposed to kill her off and make it look like it was an accident! I paid you plenty of money for this kind of job, not for your personal agenda with May to come in!"

"I have unfinished business with her!" Harley snapped back, "And it's not over by a longshot! If you want her dead, your only hope is that you kill her before I do!"

"Fine!" He rubbed his temples, suddenly feeling extremely hot in his business suit, "What about the GPS lock on her cell?"

"It's still active. You can use her number to track it."

"That's all I need."

"I'm ordering another hit," Harley said, "If they kill her before you get there, that's not my problem. Once the job is done, then I'm leaving the country for Cinnabar to lay low." He paused for a moment, "Consider the payment insurance for me keeping my mouth shut about you."

He hit the button to end the call, severing the last contact the two would have with one another.

* * *

Ash exited the car and ran right up to May, who sat in the driver seat of her sedan.

"Ash!" She cried out, flinging herself into his arms. After the tearful embrace, she tilted her head upwards and her lips touched his in a kiss. Their movements were a reflect of a combination of both worry and relief.

"How did you-" May couldn't help but ask after they parted.

"You made the right choice," Ash looked over at the ambulance with Caroline inside as it pulled onto the highway behind the apartments. The sirens came on and it wailed loudly on its way. "Damien filled me in on everything."

"I could've lost you!" Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Can't get rid of me that easily," He gave a lopsided grin, "Those were Harley's men."

"I know." May looked down, "This is all because of me! I put you and my mom in danger!"

"May!" Ash grabbed her shoulders, "None of this is your fault! You reacted and followed your own instinct and did the right thing! There is nothing to be ashamed of!"

"My mother," She breathed, "She going to be okay?"

Ash shook his head, "I don't know."

"Can we see her?"

"Not while she's in operation, but we can see her after that I imagine."

"Hey," Damien and Jewell sprinted up from the apartment with gloves on. They handed several bags containing evidence before she decided to brief him, "No clear way of entry, so it's likely that she opened the door before they charged right in."

"This neighborhood is one of the safest in Hoenn," May said, "Most of the people even leave their doors unlocked."

Damien looked out over the rest of the apartment "If this makes the news, that will likely change today."

* * *

May was cleared by the authorities to go so she and Ash took her car, following the ambulance to the general hospital in greater Odale. Traffic was beginning to thicken up as people from the Petalburg metro began to flock back to their homes in the smaller cities to the east. Thankfully they were headed northbound and the other highway lanes had already been clogged for the rush hour.

"Yes." She blurted out in the passenger seat.

"Yes?"

"I said ask if I would marry you last night," May looked over at him, "My answer is yes."

"I would kiss you right now, but I'm driving."

Looking in his mirror, Ash saw Damien and Jewell following close behind.

Another thing caught his eye. The driver of a large van was closing the gap between them rather quickly.

Was it more Harley's men? Could they have intercepted the ambulance?

Time to find out.

Ash signaled to take the offramp.

"What are you doing?" May asked, "The hospital is another three exits down."

He didn't answer, but looked behind. Both Damien and Jewell had puzzled reactions but the van was following them and he saw a second van pull off the highway ahead and speed right across the bridge.

The other one came from behind without warning. Ash and May were thrown forward, their seatbelts locking in place and airbags deploying with a loud bang.

His head throbbed and all of his nerves were set on a complete frenzy. Through all of it, he looked over at the passenger seat. May was similarly dazed and she felt immense pain in her left arm.

"May!" Ash shouted, "Are you okay?"

"What was that?"

Before either of them could respond, the van in front pulled beside them with the front window down. A burly man with a compact machine pistol leaned out, extending the weapon.

Ash knew already what was going to happen and he had his own sidearm out before the other vehicle began to slow down to allow the shooter a clear sightline. His fingers flicked the safety and he had the sights centered on the hitman.

The P226 kicked in his hand and he shifted his grip, making the weapon's predictable recoil nonexistent. Two bullets found their mark into the gunner's chest and the weapon disappeared from sight.

May shrieked from the sudden gunshots.

"Get out of the car!" Ash demanded, already scanning for more hostiles.

The sliding door on the side of the van opened up to reveal two other men with the same weapons. They unleashed a hailstorm of bullets and would've hit them both had he not ducked and pulled May down with him.

She frantically opened the door with her good right arm just as he rose again to return fire after a brief pause, giving her enough time to scramble out and press her back against the side.

Even when he was preoccupied, he knew it was only a matter of time before one of them used his friends to distract him enough to splatter May's innards all over the car.

Blindly firing again, he used the suppression to launch himself out of the car through the passenger's side and quickly took post next to May. She was shaking and her blue eyes radiated pure fear.

"Are we going to be okay?"

Where the hell were Damien and Jewell?

More gunshots were coming from the bottom of the highway.

His team was preoccupied.

"What can we do?" She asked.

"Best bet," He gestured to the thicket of trees and growth beside the road, "Go into the forest and hide." Looking at his pistol, "I have enough ammunition to hold them off for about ten seconds."

May looked at the distance. All of a sudden it seemed as if it was twice as long as it really was.

"Ready?"

"You won't leave me right?"

"I won't ever leave you." His eyes glistened with sincerity as he raised his weapon.

That was her cue, as soon as she heard his pistol's distinctive sound, she took off. Her heart pounded and she constantly braced herself for the painful sensation of a bullet striking her body.

Breaking through the mass of leaves, she immediately found a decent place to hide and watched the offramp, hoping Arceus was going to save him.

* * *

Back on the ramp's side, Ash's pistol clicked and the slide went back.

He was out of ammo. "Shit."

Footsteps sounded from the other side indicated that he was about to be flanked and exposed.

The gunman rounded the back of the sedan with his pistol raised. He kept a good distance when initially coming since charging out a longer distance would be more time to shoot.

However what he did not expect was the side of the car to be empty. The only trace of the Commando's presence were a few empty brass casings at the bottom of the tire.

He moved to investigate.

That's when Ash exploded out of the ground. Not literally, but to hide; he had pinned himself against the side of the hill to prevent himself from being spotted when the hitman first came around the side of the car. Watching him out of the corner of his eye, he made his move, charging up the hill with as much force as possible.

He slammed the arm with the pistol against the car. The gunman grunted in pain, but he kept a firm grip on the gray gun. A knee to the other person's groin bought himself some time and enough pain to rip the automatic pistol out of his attacker's hands. He smashed the weapon against his head, not bothering to make sure it was nonlethal.

Bringing it around, he sprayed a volley of bullets, catching the guy's partner who was coming to assist.

"Jewell! Damien!" He scanned the van for more hostiles, but only found the corpse of the other guy.

"We're okay," Damien yelled back.

He peered around the corner to see them with four dead bodies surrounding the van. They were similarly dressed and carried the small machine pistols as well.

"You three," A voice came from the top of the hill, "Drop your weapons and do it slow."

The JETS whirled around, immediately bringing up the figure in their weapons' sights.

Harley held a pocket pistol to May's head and positioned himself behind her as a shield.

"Let her go Harley," Ash demanded, "Don't be stupid."

"Stupid?" He chuckled, "You should be the one heeding that warning. You even think about shooting me, I'll put a bullet through her head."

"May had nothing to do with this. If whatever you have is with her, you can take it out on me."

"Absolutely not!" The pistol was pressed in the side of her head. Ash could see her fighting the pain, but it still wasn't enough to cause her stifling a whimper. "Drop it now!"

"Please Ash," May whisper pleaded, "Put it down!"

"This man tried to hurt you," Ash adamantly said, adjusting his aim, "It's not going to happen again."

"Please," She repeated, "It's not worth it."

The look of defeat on her face crushed his heart.

"Let them down," He said, the glare at Harley unchanged.

Ash let his gun drop to the ground.

Harley shook his head in disgust. Even though he was not intent on ratting Drew out to anyone, he still wanted to fulfill his own agenda of May's death. Now it seemed that her boyfriend, this precious Ash was more valuable to her than he had expected. Losing him would be devastating to her.

Maybe she wasn't be the one he should've gone after.

"Not what I expected of you Ash. Son of a bitch."

A single gunshot rang out as he aimed his gun right at the more vulnerable of the two lovers and began to pull the trigger.

* * *

 **Hey everyone. I have to apologize as I haven't updated in a while. Hope none of you thought I was going to quit on this story.**

 **Anyway I was out of town because of a death in the family so I did not have ample time to write. Family comes first after all.**

 **I appreciate everyone's patience and those who have stayed faithful, sticking around even when me...the writer did not. I'm optimistic this action-centric chapter makes up for the prolonged hiatus.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	39. Chapter 39

Years of hardened training and experience had taught Ash Ketchum that fear was something he needed to suppress. Just the feeling of uneasiness was said to be the very beginning of a downfall.

Fear came naturally. Coming face to face with death many times, he had accepted it as just another thing for him to come on by.

Now staring at Harley with May in front, he felt even more helpless than before. How did he find her?

The fact dawned right on him. Harley had his men distract Ash and his team while he went out solo. She wasn't armed and was already terrified herself so she would be easy prey. Putting her as a hostage was the best way to get the JETS to lower their weapons.

Now Harley had just as quickly taken his attention off of her and pointed his own weapon at Ash. Right after he had disarmed himself.

When the shot rang out, the Commando braced himself for the inevitable red hot razor of a bullet slicing through his body, the second one today.

But it never came.

In a flash, a crimson bloom sprouted on Harley's shoulder and he immediately released May before crumpling to the ground.

Ash was still in shock when Jewell approached him from his left, her pistol was drawn and a barely visible trail of smoke curled from the barrel.

While Harley was focused on Ash, he paid much less attention to Damien and Jewell, the latter was still gripping her own weapon when he brought him in his sights. Before anyone else could blink, she drew her own weapon, firing dead center.

"Turn over," Damien growled, kicking the pistol away from Harley and flipping him on his back. A pair of cuffs were drawn and slipped right over his wrists.

"Get him to a paramedic and then to the interrogation chamber,"

"Got it." Both of his subordinates picked up Harley by a shoulder and escorted him to their car.

"You okay?" Ash breathlessly asked.

May nodded, "Thanks for saving my life again."

"You can thank Jewell for that one." He opened his arms up in an embrace, "Now how about we go see a doctor about that arm?"

* * *

Drew was sitting in his office with one of his associates when his cell began to ring. He looked at the ID, NORMAN.

"I need a few. Let's take a quick break."

His men nodded and departed his office. Making sure they were gone, he answered afterwards.

"This is Drew."

"Drew!" Norman sounded relieved, "Thank Arceus! Did you hear about May yet?"

May?

"Um no," He tried to sound convincing, "What's going on?"

"Harley of the Syndicate had taken May hostage, but he was shot. She's okay though."

Drew wasn't sure he should be relieved or worried beyond his mind. Was Harley dead, because if he wasn't; he could potentially tie them together and rat him out in exchange for a reduced sentence. For a man like that though, it was unlikely but the thought of him ordering the hit would also be enough to put him behind bars too.

"Is Harley dead?"

"I don't know. The report is saying that the gunshot was not lethal, although there's not much else from that."

"What about Ash? Is he involved?"

"They say he was involved in her rescue," Drew could hear the contempt dripping like rain in his voice, "And he says that we should be looking elsewhere for outside threats! The boy should be looking at himself!"

Drew nodded, playing along, "Yeah, I agree."

"They're taking May to the hospital, she has a broken arm. I'm on my way over there too. You should come, at least send to check if she's okay."

"Sure," Drew began to sweat out of desperation, "I may be a little late. Lots of paperwork to do."

"Do you want me to wait?"

He shook his head, "No, it's okay. I'll drop by later if I can." He had to make a stop first.

* * *

Ash was holding May's free hand as they sat together in silence. She was beginning to doze off thanks to the painkillers the doctors had given her. With luck, she could be released tomorrow morning.

The door opened and it revealed a furious Norman. As usual, he did not look the least bit pleased with Ash in his presence. Behind him, Max timidly trailed and he could see a lot of worry in his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was for him, May or both.

"You!" He obviously didn't care that she was sleeping and walked right over to Ash, jabbing a finger in his chest, "You see why I warned that nothing good would come out of you and May together?!"

"I'm sorry May," Ash bowed his head, ignoring Norman as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You should be. You and your team continue to ask me on who would want to hurt May. I think you need to take another look at yourself Lieutenant! Now leave! I want to be alone with my son and daughter."

"When May wakes up," Ash glared back, "She's going to want to see me."

Norman was about to make a dismissal comment, but knew that he was right. Either way, he couldn't stop sending a glare of his own back at the man as he left.

* * *

"You look terrible," Brendan said as Ash emerged, "I saw Maple go in."

"Yeah," He nodded, "He blames me for it all,"

"Surprised?"

"No, but he's partially right. It is my fault."

"Dawn and I agree that you need something to eat, so she went to get takeout."

Ash sighed, "At least Harley can't hurt her anymore. How's he doing?"

"Shot went clean through. Damien and Jewell are transporting him to the interrogation room now. Zach and a team of CSIs are at your house and it seems like they entered after May left, which left the alarm disabled. "

"We're going to send him to prison for the rest of his life Brendan," Ash looked at his number two in the eye, "Find out who ordered the hit on May."

"Harley did."

"He may have organized it, but he didn't order it. There's an entire regiment of his goons to do that work for him. It was a vendetta. Someone with personal connections to her."

"Are you saying that we do a background check on May?" Decker was appalled, "Ash, this is your future wife we're talking about here! Much of that information is Maple Software related too, do you really think Norman is just going to hand us the key?"

"He's not going to. Which is why Harley is our last vector on who did this."

Ash tightened his fist, a surge of anger coursing through his body, "We're going to find out who was responsible and put them away for a long, long time."

* * *

"Dad?" Max opened the door to May's room and saw him at her bedside.

"Max? What's wrong?" He was reluctant to talk, but just spending time with his daughter was enough to cool his anger at Ash.

"Ash was just talking to the other person involved in this," His eyes widened, "It was Mom!"

"What?!" Norman was just as surprised at the revelation. "Where is she?"

"Next door. She was very surprised to see me. Ash said that Harley's men went after her too."

He was about to say something genuinely nice, but held it back. The terms of their divorce were messy and since he was awarded the custody of the kids, the house and his company were also entitled to him. Caroline's lawyer didn't even stand a chance, even though it seemed the court was actually favoring her for May and Max.

He hadn't seen her in years, but granted that she still loved their kids, it would not be beneath him to avoid her like a plague.

Norman kissed a sleeping May on the forehead and left her room, heading right down to the one Max had pointed out.

"Stay here," Wordlessly Max obeyed.

Caroline was settling into a sleep when a light knock came at her door.

"Come in," She opened her eyes.

Norman softly opened it up and both of them were surprised at the sight.

His ex was wrapped in white sheets and quite pale from the blood loss she had sustained at her own house.

"Hi," The greeting was curt, without mention of how long they had gone without seeing one another. It was almost as if they were never married in the first place.

"Caroline," Norman started, but he couldn't find the words. "How are you?" He stammered.

"Feeling okay," She sighed, "How's May?"

"She suffered a broken arm, but the doctors hope she can be discharged tomorrow." At the sound of that, relief washed over her face.

"So glad our baby girl is safe."

"But it's all because of Ketchum! He's brought his world of violence and pain into May's and she's accepting it."

"Norman," Despite his stubbornness, Caroline was the only person who was capable of standing up to him and telling him where he was at fault. "Why do you continue to lash out at Ash? He's done nothing wrong."

"Except corrupt my children!" It did not escape her notice that he called both May and Max his.

"Norman," She sternly said, "When we were married, we promised that if one of us died or got divorced, that we would support May and Max's both interests at heart. It's truly sad to see that you've violated that promise."

"I…"

"Ash is not a bad person and he is in a situation not so different from you. You remember Saturday night thirty years ago? Junior prom?"

Norman couldn't help but curl his lips upward, "I remember coming to pick you up and there was a big argument with your father behind the screen door."

"Exactly. Now think of what you're putting Ash though."

Caroline's analogy made sense, he was being that overprotective father he had previously experienced, but it still didn't justify anything.

"Doesn't matter if it's Ash or a world famous actor. Nobody is going to hurt May or Max ever again. Caroline, you know this, she needs protection and safety."

"Who better to protect and be her guardian than Ash? What do you think would have happened with the Syndicate if she was still with Drew?" Norman knew she didn't care too much for him, "Drew is not a fighter himself, even though he sticks by her side. Ash is."

She was right. He did sort of double as both a partner and bodyguard. It was odd to see the things he flung at Ash during their confrontation earlier get turned around easily and used against him in an argument. Interestingly enough, Caroline was the only person capable of that.

Norman sat down at a seat opposite her bed, placing his head into his hands. He said nothing for the longest time, no doubt thoughts running in his head a thousand miles an hour. For years, he had guarded May and Max closely from enemies outside, believing them to be corrupting his children's lives

"I'm sorry Caroline. For everything."

"Don't apologize to me for all the damage you caused. Listen," She moved over to place a hand on her ex's, "I know it's your nature to judge, protect and be stubborn, but I know you. You want May and Max to be happy. So please, just for once, go and see how May and Ash are as a couple. You might be surprised at what you find."

She was right. Norman had never given Ash a single chance to explain himself. He had constantly reminded him that he was open to changing his ways to stay with her. Commitment was something he had failed to do with his own wife and here he was, trying to prevent his own daughter to succeed where he had failed.

"I messed up big time," A teardrop rolled down his fingers, "I don't even know if May will ever forgive me for my mistake."

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

* * *

 **This story is wrapping up, only a few more chapters to go!**

 **Thank you for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	40. Chapter 40

Norman pulled into Ash's driveway early the next morning. A call to the hospital revealed to him that Ash had actually spent a considerable time at May's bedside once he had left and did not head home himself until nearly two in the morning. She additionally commented that they looked very cute as a couple.

He sighed, setting the vehicle in park and exiting.

The day was beautiful with sun shining and the temperature just slightly chilly. Thankfully Hoenn's close location to the equator brought out light jackets for the coldest days. The quiet neighborhood was broken by the sound of crashing waves from the ocean just behind the homes. People paid a lot just for a home in this area and they cost even more with the water in their backyard.

Ash's house looked very neat, with a nice cream coloring covered by a dark brown slate roof. The trim was dark gray and the front door had a small place for a garden beside the smooth pebbled walkway. It was still bare, although he could see signs of May's work in trying to plant berry trees in their front.

Inside his home, Ash examined his face in the mirror as he guided the hand razor gently over his jawline. The tool easily removed his beard and cut clean lines through the foamy white shaving cream.

His coffee maker in his kitchen had finished pouring a cup and he finished shaving, washing his face again and drying it with a clean facial towel. Once he was done with a quick breakfast, he was headed out to Odale again to pick up May if she was successfully discharged.

The doorbell rang and he unlocked his phone. Accessing one of the apps on it allowed him to view a security camera he had newly installed that allowed for a view of anyone approaching his front door. It was conveniently hidden from sight, so nobody would suspect they were being watched. What he liked best about it was the fact that he could access it anytime.

So it was a complete surprise when he saw Norman Maple waiting outside.

Even opening the door, he was unable to hide his surprise. Clearly it had caught him off guard, but it was quickly replaced by a defensive attitude to prepare for the inevitable rant that was going to follow.

"What can I do for you Norman?" Ash was having a pretty good morning, despite sleeping on the couch and being away from May. Her father's sudden appearance almost sickened him to think that his day was already going to be ruined. The undertone of resentment was ever so present in Ash's voice, but he made an effort to make it as neutral and warm as he could.

"Is that coffee?" Norman asked, "Johto dark roast?"

Ash nodded, "Yeah."

"May I have some?" At that question, Ash gave him a quizzical look. It was almost as if Norman was an alien and spoke some gibberish language.

Norman anticipated that coaxing Ash into a civil discussion was going to take some effort and frankly didn't blame him at all. "Son, I know I'm probably not welcome here and I understand that. Just if I can take some of your time and coffee to talk things over, I would really appreciate it."

The Commando was still trying to get over the fact that they had spoken to one another for a minute now and nothing hostile had been said. Still, he opened the door, knowing it would be rude to suspend the dialogue, "Sure, come on in."

"Thank you." Stepping inside the house, he was amazed at Ash's house. There were no fancy paintings on the walls or flashy decorations. All the furniture was antique, yet it seemed the older style accented the crisp wooden floors. Further into the kitchen were light brown tiles and the stove was a gas stainless steel that gave it a complete different contemporary look. For some reason it just screamed home to anyone who entered. A place where he found solace from the stresses of everyday life and could truly just unwind. He saw some moving boxes stacked close to the walls. Ash still had some unpacking to do.

"Have a seat," Ash gestured to the main island, where he was in the middle of installing a cutting board inside the table and sitting opposite it were three tall chairs that resembled bar stools.

Norman looked around again, "This is a really nice place you have."

"Thanks," Ash set another mug inside his coffee machine, "Cream and sugar?"

"One of each please."

He filled the mug up and slid it over. Ash remained standing as they both sipped their beverages for a moment in silence.

"You are probably wondering why I'm here Lieutenant."

"Considering I almost got your daughter killed less than twenty four hours ago, I'm surprised you even want to speak to me."

"Unfortunate," He dismissed it, knowing he fully deserved the subtle venomous comment, "But, that's not it. I'm not here to berate you." He sighed, "Listen, I have to apologize for my actions last night and well…most of our time talking to one another. I initially saw you as an enemy to May, but it turns out that I was that enemy. I even allowed it into May's life."

"Mister Maple," Ash began.

"Please, call me Norman."

"Norman," He corrected himself, "You couldn't have predicted what Harley and his men were going to do."

"No, but feel ashamed for the things I said unjustly to you and to May in trying to keep the two of you apart. I fear that she might never forgive me for what I did."

"You know your daughter," Ash said, "She'll come around to it."

"I hope so. The two of you complement one another very much. I fully believe you will make an excellent husband when the time comes."

Those words suddenly restored all the confidence he had. "Thank you. Coming from you, it means a lot to me."

"I wish I would be able to get a second chance with my own wife. At first, things were good between us, but I never allowed her to live the life she had wanted for her, May or Max. I see how you would be with May and realize I was stopping that from happening. That will not happen again." The last part was said very sincerely. "Make sure she seeks out the life she wants to live and give her all the encouragement you can muster. Don't let anyone or anything stop her."

"I will do that and I appreciate we were able to see eye to eye on this."

"Me too. Must have been awkward for you?"

"I am more concerned about May though. At least she has a chance to reconcile with her father."

"What do you mean Lieu- Ash?"

He sipped his coffee, "I grew up in Pallet without a father. My mother died recently, so knowing that May still has two parents that love her very much is a blessing to me."

Norman was vastly surprised. This Ash was completely different from the one he was used to seeing and he found himself quite fond of the easygoing nature.

He flashed a rare smile, "You don't like holding grudges do you?"

"Takes too much effort," He had caught on to the more casual part of the conversation, "Now I am quite protective of those close to me so anyone who wishes me, May or any of my other friends and family harm better be begging for mercy because nothing is going to stop me from hunting them down."

There was much fury in those words, yet Norman actually relaxed. He knew it was not directed at him.

"Then what's going to happen to Harley?"

"My team's questioning him now. Hopefully they'll have an ID on who paid him for the hit on both May and Caroline. Once that's done, he and his co conspirator are going to spend the rest of their lives in a cell."

"Good." His face brightened, "Speaking of which, have you proposed to May?"

Ash nodded.

"As father of the bride, I would like to cover all expenses. Just send me a list of all the things, the place and I'll make sure it happens."

"I can't ask you to do that,"

"I'm not taking no for an answer," Norman chuckled, "I have enough money to pay for your entire team's wedding and still have a thousand times left."

"May wanted somewhere low-key, just a place where we didn't have far to get to where we'd live."

Both their gazes drifted to the beach in the backyard.

"If the sun sets over the horizon," Norman noted, "Than it would be a picturesque wedding. I think it's perfect."

"I agree. It's fine by me if it suits May."

"You're starting to talk like a husband now. She's happy then so is everyone else!" The chuckle from both men escalated into laughter. The ringing of Ash's cell quieted them once more.

"Excuse me," When the older man nodded, he picked up the phone, "Lieutenant Ketchum."

"We just finished interrogating Harley," Zack's voice came from the other side, "We have an ID on our guy. He was willing to cooperate in exchange for a sentence reduction."

"Sentence reduction?" Ash growled, "How much?"

Zack laughed on his end, "From one-hundred and fifty to ninety years. Of course we never told him."

Ash couldn't help but smile, "So who's our guy?"

He proceeded to fill him in on the details.

"Okay. Have the team meet me there. Call the Odale Hospital and tell them to put security on May's room. Deny access to all except the registered nurses, doctors or any one of us."

"I'm on it." The line clicked dead.

"What was that?" Norman asked.

"We've got an ID on who paid Harley to attack May and Caroline. My team is assembling to raid his place."

"I'm coming with you,"

Ash held out a hand, "Absolutely not. Our suspect may be armed and it could be potentially dangerous."

He really couldn't argue against that but it didn't stop another protest, "I want to be there to look at the person who tried to kill my daughter and my wife."

Ash looked him in the eye, "Head to our office. We're going to bring him in and I promise you that you will be able to look at him in the eye."

* * *

 **So Ash and Norman declare their hostility towards one another are at an end. Really enjoyed writing this one.**

 **There is only one or two more chapters left, so my time in writing this story is coming to a close. Hope everyone enjoyed this ride reading it as much as I did writing.**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.**


	41. Epilogue

Drew stared at the vial in his hand, still not believing that he now had a straight shot at billions of dollars and the crystals of potassium chloride inside was the key.

He shuddered at the thought of killing someone, May especially. The fact that violence never crossed his mind months ago to injecting poison into someone he had proposed to was a big difference.

Even before, he had known that marriage was never going to work between the two of them. In his book, he felt that once his newly inherited business could go the possibilities it had, he could sit back and enjoy the playboy lifestyle. After all, he still had plenty of years for it, being only twenty-five.

His thoughts were interrupted by a protest by his secretary in the room just before his office.

"Sir, you can't go in there!"

A moment later, someone knocked rather loudly on the door.

"Drew Hayden! JETS Agents, open this door!"

Drew recognized the voice; Ash Ketchum.

They knew.

"Open the door right now Drew!" Ash repeated himself, "I'm not going to ask you again!"

Just beside his office was a separate door that opened into a passage that had a stairwell leading to the floor below for fire evacuation drills and he was already up, halfway to the exit when Ash had kicked down the main entrance with a deafening bang that made his terrified secretary scream.

"Drew!" Ash contemplated taking a shot in case his prey got away, but he only had a half second for a decision before May's ex disappeared from sight.

Drew's breathing was erratic as he descended the steps in a hurry, not daring to look as Ash could be right on his heels.

With purpose, he threw the hatch open and widened his eyes.

"Going somewhere?" Brendan Decker was just casually waiting outside the exit, gun in hand.

* * *

"Well obviously he's exercising his right to remain silent," Brendan said as he and Ash prowled above a cuffed Drew in the JETS' interrogation room. Their captive had laid his head down, only looking up to glare at them.

"Drew," Ash bent down to look at him on eye level, "We found the vial of potassium chloride on your desk and the fact that you never answered us and tried to flee tells me you don't have a valid answer for yourself." He stood back up, "Still, why? "

"How?" Drew was still in disbelief, but the single word came out of his mouth from a musing.

"Because your friend Harley talked and linked you with the payment he received to endanger Ash and May here. All we had to do was trace it back!"

Drew was silent before he began to snicker, "Maple was living in the old ages. He never wanted to expand beyond his current position! I could have done that! I could have made billions of dollars and expanded Hoenn's economy if I just had the helm!" He looked at the two men, who listened with unimpressed faces with anger in his eyes, "Go ahead! Put me in prison! I'm not afraid of either of you."

"Okay," Ash pulled out his phone and held it to his ear, "Yeah, he's here. Come on in."

His smug expression wavered ever so slightly when the Lieutenant hung up, "Who was that?"

"Someone you ARE afraid of,"

A moment later, the entrance buzzed and opened up. Norman Maple walked in. Drew swallowed nervously, trying in desperation to talk his way out of this.

"You're on the hot seat Hayden," He easily countered what his former protégé was going to attempt, "So I'd be very careful in what you're going to say."

Drew glanced up at Ash and Brendan, but both remained with stony expressions, crossed arms and silence as Norman stood between them.

"I want to know right now," It came out more forcefully and sternly, but Ash could tell that he was trying his best to stay calm, "Why did you want May dead?"

Drew was silent.

"Well I'll tell you why. In fact, I'll enlighten these two on your motive because it's crystal clear to me."

He pulled out a piece of paper and set it on Drew's lap, lightly tapping it with a finger, "This is your contract that you signed when both you and May were set to be engaged. If I ever were to die, control would go to May and Max, but you would gain control of the company if I were unfit to run it. He knew he couldn't kill me, but he knew how much my daughter meant to me and if she were to die, I would be lost and Maple Software would be his." He looked at Ash, "How will he do in prison?"

"A pretty boy like him will be a favorite," He moved forward to take him away.

"You're still ten years behind old man," Drew gave a wicked smile and laughed to himself, "And you never could find the answer because it was me. Standing right in front of your blind eyes!"

"Wait!" Norman was more than happy at this for him to take the asshole out of his sight but he still had one more surprise. "Before you do take him away, I have something that will definitely wipe the smirk off his face." He stood up, "As a family, I had enough money to live our lives now six times over. I decided that at the end of this year, I was going to retire, step back and appoint you as my successor with full reign over the company. It would have been yours to run in whatever way you wanted."

This time, the smirk disappeared right off Drew's face for good.

Ash and Brendan watched as Norman stood up, before unexpectedly balling his left hand into a fist and swing it with quite a considerable amount of power behind the haymaker. Drew was hit right in the jaw and a split second later, crimson blood began to trickle out of his mouth.

"Alright we're good," Norman massaged his fist before looking at Ash, "Make sure he suffers in that prison."

Ash gestured to Brendan, who cuffed Drew behind his back and walked him out, "Alright. Let's go fucktard."

The tortured look on his face as he passed ashamedly between the two of them was pure gold. The slug, would have lasted just a few hours, but what Norman revealed right before it was just absolute perfection. From all his years on witnessing epic revenge plots, this one by far, took the cake.

May gasped as Ash opened the front door and rushed to greet him. Her arms were flung around his back and she buried her face in his chest.

"Ash," She whispered before he gently thumbed her face up, bringing it in for a sweet, tender kiss. Their eyes closed and he softly breathed out, still in the embrace.

"It's over," He said, "We got him."

"Drew?"

"He wanted Maple Software and if you were dead, Norman was going to be heartbroken and give him control by default."

"Arceus," She breathed.

"Hey," He gently kissed her again, "You don't have to think about him anymore, he and Harley are not likely to see the outside of a prison for the rest of their lives."

"How?" Tears formed in her eyes, "How could he think of doing something like that? I trusted him to be a friend."

"Greed. Simple greed. What he used to gain you and your father's trust was a façade."

"No use thinking about them anymore." May giggled, "I have a wedding to plan and you have vows to write up."

"What would I say for that?"

"Whatever you want. I'll know it came from your heart,"

"Okay," Ash gave a lopsided grin, "I love you." He waved his hand up, "Easy enough?"

"That wasn't so bad. Was it?" The lips met once more to give her the answer.

* * *

"I sat there wondering," Ash paused in mid-speech, trying to find the words to fit his sentence, "If you said no, how I was going to make my exit?"

The crowd at the wedding chuckled. The weather was perfect, warm with a slight breeze just behind Ash's house. Flowers lined the center and the makeshift podium was to the side with a backdrop lined with colorful flowers. The flower girl, Aster was more than excited to toss them all along the path.

Everyone was dressed casually, except May in a silky white dress that elegantly accented her curvy body and Ash in his Federation service uniform with many rows of polished medals.

"But the important thing is, I love you." Ash smiled again, "There's no other way to put it and it's not something I say often, well except to you of course." This got another chuckle. "That's my vow. I love you May Ketchum…wow, that actually sounds really good."

* * *

Everyone applauded as the ceremony concluded. The photographer made extra sure to capture the fullness when Ash was told to kiss the bride. Instead of leaning in, he wrapped his arms around May in a hug, lifting her above him before placing his lips upon hers. She was surprised at first, but her eyes slid shut as the two enjoyed their first moments as a married couple.

The reception was held right after the wedding and everyone pitched in to set up tables and assist the catering crew. Ash and May made their rounds, thanking everyone for coming and receiving congratulations as well as marriage advice from many of the guests. Music was playing at the beachhead as some of the guests were congregating to the dance floor to bust out some fancy moves.

"Congratulations Lieutenant Ketchum. She's all yours." Norman stood opposite him with an outstretched hand. He had kept glancing over to Caroline, who was eager to invite him back onto the floor with her.

"Thank you," Ash shook it, "I will take good care of her."

"I do have to admit I used your Commando training to try and defer her from you. You know, about the execution."

"It's no big deal," Ash waved it off before leaning closer, "Just between you and me, the gun we used fires blanks, but it's another big test on how far Commandos were willing to go to complete their mission. Of course, we didn't know that at the time. You have my word I will do all in my power and skill to protect May from anything,"

"Fair enough," He actually smiled, "Then I hope to one day start babysitting little Commandos in the future."

Ash thanked him again and he went over to join Caroline.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Dawn squealed, still in her maid of honor dress as she flung her arms around Ash in a tight hug, "I think you just made May's best day of her entire life!"

"Thank you Dawn," He said, "You're her best friend and I don't think anyone else would have made a better maid." He glanced down seeing May's bouquet in her hands, "You catch that?"

"Yeah I did." She suspiciously looked around, "Maybe he's here already?"

"Maybe." Ash remembered flinging the garter right afterwards, which was caught by a very enthusiastic Max, much to the crowd's disbelief.

As he continued to move through the tables and talk to his guests, Ash felt his phone ring.

"Lieutenant Ash S. Ketchum?" The other person spoke before he could even muster a hello.

"Yes sir?" He put on his attentive tone, realizing that this call was not for casual purposes. This was the Federation Military on full formalities.

"Contingency Black Storm has been declared. I repeat, Contingency Black Storm is active, effective immediately. Federation Defense condition has been raised to imminent threat."

* * *

 **So that's the end of the story everyone! Finally closing the cover on this epic drama adventure with (almost) all loose ends tied up! At the end it does imply that there is more story to tell. And there definitely is, a sequel is on the way! No title yet, so it might just be Advanced Commando 2.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorite and/or followed this story. You all give my writing purpose.**


End file.
